Thailand Open 2019: PV Sindhu pulls out, Saina Nehwal makes comeback

India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu has decided to pull out of the Super 500 Thailand Open starting from July 30. She will take rest in order to prepare for the World Championships starting from 19th August 2019 at Basel, Switzerland.

Sindhu reached the final of Super 1000 Indonesia Open this month, losing to Akane Yamaguchi. Last week, the 2-time World Championship silver medallist lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winner Yamaguchi for her second loss to the Japanese in as many weeks. The Indian has earned enough points from these two events due to which she could withdraw from the Bangkok tournament.

Nozomi Okhuara, Tai Tzu Ying and Yamaguchi too will not take part in the Thailand Open as they are busy preparing for the World Championships 2019. Saina Nehwal, who has been struggling late due to injuries, will be making a comeback and will be looking to go deep in the tournament.

In men’s singles, Subhankar Dey will face a tough challenge against Japanese Kento Momota in the first round. The semi-finalist from Japan Open 2019, Sai Praneeth will face Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand.

HS Prannoy will face Wong Wing Ki Vincent of Hong Kong in the first round. Parupalli Kashyap will be fancying his chances against Misha Zilberman of Israel.

Sameer Verma will face Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. India’s ace men’s shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has a qualifier in his opening round.

In men’s doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will take on their compatriots Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy. Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy also face a tough challenge as they take on Li Wen Mei and Zheng Yu of China.

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy will face Kohei Gondo and Ayane Kurihara of Japan in mixed doubles. Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will take on the fifth-seeded Malaysian pair of Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying.