After being suspended for a year due to the pandemic, the prestigious Indonesia Open makes its return to the badminton circuit this week. The 39th edition of this Super 1000 tournament will be held in Bali, Indonesia this time, with the province hosting a badminton festival for three weeks.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist PV Sindhu will begin her title hunt at the Indonesia Open against World No. 22 Aya Ohori on Wednesday (November 24). The Indian has fond memories from her last campaign at this tournament, where she beat top stars such as Nozomi Okuhara and Chen Yufei to reach the final.
In the summit clash, however, the two-time Olympic medalist was stopped by Akane Yamaguchi.
Sindhu's Indonesia Open performance was crucial as it set the foundation for her unforgettable run at the BWF World Championships in Basel a month later. With the defense of her world title fast approaching, the Indian will be eager to shine at this tournament and get a much-needed confidence boost.
Sindhu has reached the semifinals in her last two tournaments, with the Indonesia Masters last week being the latest. However, she is evidently yet to reach her peak form. The World No. 7 will be looking to make amends this week as she gets another chance to prove herself in Bali.
Interestingly, Sindhu and Ohori squared off in the first round two years back as well. Sindhu needed three games to see off the 25-year-old on that occasion.
The southpaw has pushed the Indian close but has never managed to get the better of Sindhu in 10 meetings so far. With Ohori struggling of late and Sindhu making it deep in every recent tournament, it doesn't look like the outcome will be any different this time around.
Indonesia Open 2021: Match details
Fixture: (3) PV Sindhu vs Aya Ohori
Head-to-head: PV Sindhu leads Aya Ohori 10-0, having last beaten the Japanese 14-21, 21-15, 21-11 at the Indonesia Masters last year.
Date: 24 November 2021.
Time: Approx 12:40 pm local time, 10:10 am IST.
Tournament: SimInvest Indonesia Open 2021.
Round: First Round.
Venue: Bali, Indonesia.
Category: BWF World Tour Super 1000.
Prize money: $850,000.
Indonesia Open 2021: TV schedule
The Indonesia Open 2021 is being live telecast on the Star Sports 3 & Star Sports 2 HD TV channels.
Indonesia Open 2021: Live streaming details
The Indonesia Open 2021 can be live-streamed on the Disney+Hotstar app.