Australian Open Predictions: Indian hopes rest heavily on PV Sindhu 

The Super Series is back, to pick up where the excitement left off at the Sudirman Cup last month!

The only Super Series tournament this month, the Crown Group Australian Open, is a Super 300 tournament. A host of top players have landed in Sydney to compete for top honours.

The Indian contingent is geared to spring a few surprises and upset some top seeds. Amongst them is the doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who on their day can give any men’s doubles team a run for their money.

Pusarla V Sindhu has become synonymous with Indian badminton. The former World No. 2 has seen a drop in form over the past few months. But, everyone knows that form is temporary, but class is permanent. She definitely is a world-class player!

In the men’s singles section, India will be represented by four players who have upset top seeds over the past years.

While Sameer Verma and Sai Praneeth have been in great form recently, the Australian Open presents a great opportunity for Parupalli Kashyap and H.S. Prannoy to get back to winning ways.

Women’s Singles

Wednesday promises to be an action-packed day for Indian shuttlers. Sindhu is set to take on Choirunnisa from Indonesia in her opening match of the tournament. It should be an easy win for Indian’s top women’s shuttler.

Men’s Singles

Both Kashyap and Prannoy face tough opponents in the form of Avihingsanon from Thailand and the great Lin Dan from China, respectively.

It will be tough to predict the outcome between Kashyap and Avihingsanon. The Thai player should hold the edge, unless Kashyap pulls off an offensive masterpiece in the opening round.

H.S. Prannoy will face the toughest opponent amongst all men’s shuttlers, when he taken on Lin Dan. Although, Lin Dan seems past his prime, he is still too good to succumb to Pranoy’s challenge.

It is also noteworthy to observe the relative improvement in Lin Dan’s form over the past few months. He is certainly preparing to break into the Chinese team for the Olympics next year.

Sameer Verma will take on Lee Zil Jia from Malaysia in his first match. Lee Zil Jia beat Verma a couple of weeks ago in the Sudirman Cup. The match, presents Verma with an opportunity to extract revenge for his loss to Zil Jia.

The best Indian men’s player in 2019 has to be Sai Praneeth! Ever since the PBL, Sai Praneeth has been in great form and will look to capitalise on it when he takes on Lee Dong Keun from South Korea.

Men’s Doubles

Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty

Satwiksairaj is a revelation in Indian doubles! He is by far the best doubles player that India has produced in the recent past.

His smashes are thunderous and his game-play is astute. In tomorrow’s all Indian clash, Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty will face Attri Manu and Sumeeth Reddy. Though both teams know each other’s game like the back of their hand, it should be a relatively easy win for Satwiksairaj and Shetty.