All England Open Badminton 2017: Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu's schedule for first round

Competition: All England Open Badminton ChampionshipsVenue: Barclaycard Arena, BirminghamCategory: Superseries PremierDate: Wednesday, 8th March, 2017

Time: Women’s singles -

i) PV Sindhu vs Mette Poulsen at 7.10pm ISTii) Saina Nehwal vs Nozomi Okuhara at 9.50pm IST

Preview

(6) PV Sindhu (Rank: 5) vs Mette Poulsen (Rank: 33)

Head-to-head: Poulsen leads 1-0

Interestingly, it is the lower-ranked Dane who leads their head-to-head record. However, that solitary meeting happened way back in 2010 at the World Junior Championships where Sindhu succumbed in three games.

A lot has changed since then. 7 years on, it is Sindhu, who is riding high having embarked on the most glorious period of her career at the Rio Olympics last August. The confidence that she gained by winning a silver medal at the mega-quadrennial Games helped her win the China Open, the Syed Modi International, besides making the final of the Hong Kong Open and the semi-finals of the World Superseries Finals.

Not only that, she even guided the Chennai Smashers to their maiden title at the Premier Badminton League in January.

With so much conviction in her game right now, this should be a comfortable opener for the 21-year-old Indian.

(8) Saina Nehwal (Rank: 10) vs Nozomi Okuhara (Rank: 11)

Head-to-head: Nehwal leads 5-1

Saina has got a far trickier opener than Sindhu. The 2015 runner-up faces the defending champion, who is placed just one rung below her in the BWF World Rankings.

However, the Japanese is on a comeback trail from a shoulder injury and this will be her first tournament of 2017. In contrast, the former World No. 1 Indian made a triumphant start to the new season by clinching the Malaysia Masters title.

The 26-year-old opted for a one-month hiatus after that to focus on the rehabilitation of her knee on which she underwent surgery and to gear up well for the hectic Superseries circuit. The break is expected to have done a world of good to Nehwal and fitness shouldn’t be a concern for her anymore.

Okuhara definitely possesses the strokes to stretch this match but the Indian should have the last laugh.