The month of October has been action-packed, with badminton tournaments taking place every week. The last week of the month will witness the Yonex French Open Super 750 tournament taking place in Rennes, France, from October 24 to 29.
Several Indian shuttlers will take the court. Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen will feature in the men’s singles category, while PV Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, and Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda will be the only Indian players in the women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles categories respectively.
Unfortunately, HS Prannoy will be missing in action once again. Aakarshi Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat, who were earlier expected to take part in the tournament, have also pulled out.
French Open 2023: Where to watch
The French Open Super 750 tournament will not be broadcast live on any TV channels in India. However, fans can tune in to the Badminton World Federation's official YouTube channel, BWF TV, to catch the live action. The Tournament Software will also display the live score for all matches.
French Open 2023: PV Sindhu faces a challenging start
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, who has been on an impressive run lately with her recent performances displaying a resurgence of form, will face a challenging start to the tournament.
The 28-year-old will take on Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the first round of the women’s singles category. Their previous encounter last week during the Denmark Open saw a thrilling battle that went the distance, with Sindhu eventually emerging victorious 18- 21, 21-15, 21-13.
In the men's singles categories, Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen are gearing up to take on French opponents. Commonwealth Games gold medalist Lakshya will face Arnaud Merkle, while Kidambi Srikanth will go head-to-head against T. Popov.
The recently crowned World No. 1 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will spearhead India's campaign in the doubles categories. They will be facing the French pair of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in the first round.
The only other Indian doubles pair participating in the event consists of the Panda sisters, Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda. They will begin their campaign against China's Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min in the women's doubles category.