Battle of the Yonex French Open Superseries starts from tomorrow

The hunt for the Yonex French Open Superseries starts from tomorrow as all the top players of the world will battle out to win one of the most prestigious tournament in the calendar year.

As far as the Indian team is concerned, a total of 15 Indian players have confirmed their participation in this tournament which will be held in the city of Paris from 22 Oct to 27th Oct. French Open Superseries, which is the USD 200,000 tournament is the sixth and second last Superseries Tournament of the year.

Star Indian shuttler and Olympic Bronze medalist Saina Nehwal, who is currently the World No. 4 will take on the world ranked 15. Nichaon Jindapon of Thailand in the first round of the women’s singles. Saina Nehwal is not in the best of the forms in the recent times as she has not won even a single title this year.

If Saina manages to reach till the quarterfinals, then she could well play the World No. 6 Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea. Sung recently defeated Saina in the quarterfinals of the Yonex Denmark Open.

Indian teenage badminton sensation and 2013 World Championships bronze medalist P.V Sindhu, who is currently the World No. 10 will play the World No. 6 Korean shuttler Ji Hyun Sung. If Sindhu and Saina both manages to reach till the quarterfinals then they will face each other to confirm the semi-final berth.

In women’s singles qualification, Arundhati Pantawane will lock horns with the Taipei shuttler Tai Ching Chieh in the first qualification round.

In men’s singles category, Parupalli Kashyap who is currently the World No. 13 had a very tough task in the opening round as he will take on the World No.1 Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei.

2013 Yonex Japan Open quarterfinalist Ajay Jayaram who is currently the World No. 25, will play the World No. 35 Japanese shuttler Kazumasa Sakai. 24th ranked Indian shuttler Gurusaidutt, who lost in the quarterfinals of the Yonex Denmark Open superseries, will battle it out with Chen Yuekun of China in the opener.

In men’s singles qualification round, five Indian shuttlers will be in action. Rising Indian badminton star and World No. 32 K. Srikanth will play the Irish shuttler Scott evens in the first qualification round. World ranked 43 H.S prannoy will take on the Indonesian shuttler Andre Kurniawan in the opening qualification round.

3rd seeded in the qualification and current World No. 33 Anand Pawar will battle it out with the local Brice Leverdez whereas Sourabh Verma will lock horns with the 2nd seed in the LeeDOng Keun in the first qualification round. B Sai Praneeth, who is currently the World ranked 41 will take on the shuttler from Finland, Ville Lang. Only 4 out of the 16 players will qualify for the main draw of the tournament.

In men’s doubles qualification World No. 55 Indian pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy who are also the 4th seeds in the qualification will take on the French pair of Quentin Vincent and Sebastien Vincent in the first qualification round. No Indian men’s doubles pair have got the direct entry in the main draw.

In women’s doubles the Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, who are playing their first tournament as a team after the 2012 London Olympics will play the World No. 16 Indonesian pair of Gebby and Tiera in the first round.

Jwala Gutta was also supposed to take part in the recently concluded Yonex Denmark Open but BAI withdrawn her participation without informing her.

Jwala, who is competing in a major international event after almost a year will also be in action in the mixed doubles qualification with Manu Attri. Gutta and Attri who are the top seeds in the mixed doubles qualification will take on the German pair of Johannes and Johanna in the opening round.

In the first round of the main draw, the Indian pair of Ashwini Ponappa and Tarun Kona will take on the Scottish pair of Imogen Bankier and Robert Blair in the first round.