After struggling with her form for a few weeks following her World Championships title win, last month's French Open was the first tournament in which PV Sindhu seemed to have rediscovered her lost touch.
While two effortless wins over Michelle Li and Yeo Jia Min confirmed that the BWF World Tour Finals champion was looking strong again, a narrow three-game loss to the World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying thoroughly underlined the fact that she was back to her best.
With the defence of her year-ending championships title coming up, it is imperative that Sindhu regains all her confidence before she meets the creme de la creme of the badminton world. This week's Fuzhou China Open is yet another opportunity for the lanky Hyderabad shuttler to get some wins under her belt and further boost her self-belief.
Sindhu would definitely like to pick up from where she left off in Paris and storm her way through the draw. The sixth seed would be upbeat for she has been placed in the top half of the draw, which gives her a chance to avenge her French Open defeat to Tai Tzu Ying in the quarter-finals.
But before she can reach that stage, she has to cross a couple of hurdles, the first of which is World No. 42 Pai Yu Po. The world champion has met the Taipei shuttler thrice and has emerged a victor on each occasion. She hasn't even conceded a game to Po, with her most recent win coming at the World Championships in Basel this year.
Sindhu is the overwhelming favourite in this clash by sheer dint of her class and experience, but she cannot afford to take her opponent lightly, especially after the latter reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Open last month.
Here is all you need to know about Fuzhou China Open 2019:
Tournament: Fuzhou China Open 2019
Category: BWF Super 750
Location: Fuzhou, China
Venue: Haixia Olympics Sports Center
Prize Money: US$700,000
Schedule: (6) PV Sindhu vs Pai Yu Po not before 11:40 am local time or 9:10 am IST on November 5, 2019
Where to watch the matches in India?
The matches will be telecast on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD.
Live Stream Details and Info for the matches:
Fuzhou China Open 2019 can be streamed live on Hotstar.