Yonex Japan Open: Saina Nehwal to face Lindaweni Fanetri in first round

Saina Nehwal

Star Indian shuttler and World No. 4 Saina Nehwal will face World No. 12 Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia in the first round of the Yonex Japan Open 2013. This USD 200,000 tournament, which will be held in the city of Tokyo from 17-22 Sep, is a Super Series category tournament.

Saina Nehwal, who was undefeated in the recently concluded Indian Badminton League has been given the third seed in the tournament. If Saina manages to reach the quarterfinal, she could well play World No. 8 and 6th-seed Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei.

Young Indian Badminton sensation P.V Sindhu, who created the history by winning the first medal for the country in women’s singles at the World Badminton Championships in August will take on a qualifier in the first round.

Sindhu, who has been given the 8th seed in the tournament, is in sublime form over the past few months. If Sindhu manages to reach till quarterfinals, then she could well play the World No. 1 Li Xuerui of China.

In men’s singles category, five Indian players will be in action. Olympics 2012 quarterfinalist and World No. 14 Parupalli Kashyap will face World No. 21 Sho Sasaki of Japan in the opening round. Kashyap could most probably face World no. 2 Chen Long of China in the next round.

World No. 20 R.M.V Gurusaidutt will be up against the World No. 13 Indonesian shuttler Soni Dwi Kuncoro in the first round. It will be a huge task ahead for this young Indian shuttler as he could well face the World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the next round.

Another Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram, who is currently the World ranked 24, will face World No. 23 Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei in the opening round. Rising Indian Badminton star B. Sai Praneeth will take on the tough challenge of facing World No.8 Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the opener.

World No. 36 Sourabh Verma will take on a qualifier in the first round of the tournament.

In men’s singles qualification round, three Indian players will be giving their best to make it through to the main draw of the tournament. K.Srikanth who is the top seeded player in the men’s singles qualification round will face local boy Richi Takeshita in the first round. Anand Pawar will play Kozai Kazuteru while 3rd seed in the qualification HS Prannoy will play Jun Takemura in the first round.

In men’s doubles category two Indian pairs will be in action. World ranked 38, Indian pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra will face the pair of Chan Yu Lung and Lee Chun Hei of Hong Kong in the first round. Another Indian pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy who are currently World No. 60 will be up against the Japanese pair of Hiroyuki Saeti and Ryota Taohata in the opening round.

There is no Indian participation in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles category of the tournament.