Indonesia Masters 2018: Preview and schedule of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu’s first round matches

India’s top stars start their campaign at the $350,000 Indonesia Masters 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday. This will be the first tournament for the Indian brigade post the departure of Mulyo Handoyo, who has been credited with reshaping Indian badminton into one of the leading forces.

For former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal, it is a very tough opener as she faces the seventh seed and World Championships bronze medallist Chen Yufei of China.

Let’s have a brief look at the first round matches of Saina and Sindhu:

(2) PV Sindhu (WR #3) vs Hanna Ramadini (WR #33)

Head-to-head: First meeting

This will be Sindhu’s first official match since losing a thriller in the final of the Dubai World Superseries Finals to Akane Yamaguchi. After completing the most consistent season of her career, the India No. 1 would like to get the new season off to a good start.

Her first round opponent could give her exactly that chance. Ramadini has never won anything higher than an International level title and her highest ranking so far has been 30th.

Sindhu is expected to be too strong for the Indonesian, although home support could inspire her to give the Indian some fight.

Saina Nehwal (WR #10) vs Chen Yufei (WR #8)

Head-to-head Yufei leads 1-0

Last meeting: Yufei def Nehwal 18-21, 21-19, 21-10 at the 2017 Hong Kong Open second round

This is definitely not easy for Saina. Yufei has proved to be the player that China is looking up to strengthen their waning women’s singles. At 19, the former junior world champion already has a bronze medal from the senior World Championships, besides a semi-final finish at the Dubai World Superseries Finals.

Yufei’s ability to change the direction of the shuttle with the flick of her wrist and surprise her opponents has reaped her rich dividends. The young Chinese already has wins over the likes of Sindhu and Saina.

In their last meeting, Nehwal had the upper hand for most of the match before Yufei held her nerves and eked out a tight second game and then ran away with the decider. Saina’s endurance hasn’t been up to the mark of late if matches tend to get long.

If she can’t close out the match in two games and does indeed concede the momentum to Yufei, it could be a cause of headache for the London Olympic bronze medallist.

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Here is all the information you need to know:

Tournament name: Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2018

Category: BWF World Tour Super 500

Total prize money: $350,000

Venue: Jakarta, Indonesia

Round: First

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Time:

Women’s singles:

Saina Nehwal vs (7) Chen Yufei at 4.30pm IST

(2) PV Sindhu vs Hanna Ramadini at 7.10pm IST

Men’s singles:

Sameer Verma vs Kazumasa Sakai at 9.40am IST

Parupalli Kashyap vs Chong Wei Feng at 7.10pm IST

Men’s doubles:

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs (8) Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko at 11.40am IST

Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy vs Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han at 2.30pm IST