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A full-strength Indian contingent will be led by shuttle queens Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu along with India Open runner-up Kidambi Srikanth as the Singapore Open 2019 gets under way on Tuesday. For both Saina and Sindhu, this Super 500 tournament represents a priceless opportunity to make amends following their early exits at last week’s high-profile Malaysia Open.
Sindhu is the fourth seed and should look to make a deep run at this tournament although she needs to be wary of the 2012 Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui whom she could face in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Nozomi Okuhara and sixth seed Saina Nehwal are both placed in the last quarter of the draw, which throws up the possibility of a blockbuster Saina vs Sindhu semi-final. But for that to happen, Saina needs to overcome World No. 21 Pornpawee Chochuwong, who accounted for her last week in Malaysia.
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Former world champion Okuhara too made it to the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur and is coming to this tournament with a rich vein of form, which could be a cause of worry for both the Indian shuttlers.
In men’s singles, five Indians are in the main draw as Team India looks to get some much-needed confidence boost ahead of the Badminton Asia Championships scheduled to be held at the end of this month.
Sixth seed Kidambi Srikanth made it to the India Open final and then followed it up with a quarter-final finish at the Malaysia Open. He has the top seed and World No. 1 Kento Momota looming in the quarters.
Swiss Open runner-up Sai Praneeth, a former winner of this tournament, has a very tough opening round after having been pitted against none other than Momota in the very first round. HS Prannoy takes on Brice Leverdez in his opener but a win there could put him face-to-face with the mighty Japanese.
Sameer Verma needs to tackle the eighth seed Tommy Sugiarto in the second round and the second seed Chou Tien Chen in the quarters while qualifier Parupalli Kashyap could come up against the fourth seed and Malaysia Open finalist Chen Long in the pre-quarters.
Here is all you need to know about the Singapore Open:
Tournament name: Singapore Open 2019
Category: Super 500
Location: Singapore
Where to watch the matches in India?
The matches will be telecast live on Star Sports 2 from Friday, April 12.
Live Stream Details and Info for the matches:
Live Stream for the matches is available on hotstar.com.
