Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Newly-crowned French Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will likely be anticipated to proceed their wealthy vein of kind, whereas the seasoned P.V. Sindhu will hope to ace a trial by fireplace to finish India’s 23-year-old title drought at the All England Championships beginning on March 12.
Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) are the one ones from India to have claimed the title with Saina Nehwal (2015) and Lakshya Sen (2022) coming shut after they completed runner-ups.
The prestigious match holds an iconic standing in India however through the years, its exclusivity has considerably dwindled as it’s now one of the 4 Super 1000 occasion on the worldwide calendar.
Satwik and Chirag have already gained a Super 1000 title in Indonesia final yr and given their stellar run this season, expectations could be excessive when the 2 towering shuttlers take the courtroom this week, following their exploits at Paris on Sunday night time.
Satwik and Chirag, the Asian Games champions, have bossed their opponents this season, reaching three finals — Malaysia Super 1000, and India Super 750 earlier than profitable at Paris — and will stay India’s greatest hopes of a title end at the Utilita Arena Birmingham right here.
Standing in entrance of them within the opening spherical would be the veteran Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, the three-time world champions. They have brought on loads of heartbreaks for the Indians up to now.
The ‘Daddies’ had defeated Satwik and Chirag the final time they confronted within the French Open final yr and the Indians will likely be eyeing revenge.
If they cross the opening hurdle, the Indian duo is prone to face the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. The Malaysians are formidable foes however Satwik and Chirag have defeated them thrice within the final three conferences.
Sindhu can even face an acid check this week with world no. 1 and high seed Korean An Se Young lined up within the second spherical is the Indian tames Germany’s Yvonne Li, towards whom she has a 2-0 file.
Sindhu has proven that she has recovered properly from the left knee harm that left her on the sidelines for 4 months earlier than her marketing campaign within the French Open final week.
With the legendary Padukone by her facet, Sindhu matched Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei earlier than marginally falling brief within the quarterfinals in Paris.
The 68-year-old Padukone can even be a continuing supply of inspiration for Lakshya Sen, who obtained a giant increase in his race for Olympic qualification with a semifinal end at the French Open final week.
Sen will likely be up towards Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong with a probable conflict towards fourth seeded Dane Anders Antonsen awaiting him within the second spherical.
World no. 7 HS Prannoy, who made the semifinal of the India Open in January however bowed out of French Open within the first spherical final week, will hope to go deep within the draw after opening towards Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang.
Kidambi Srikanth, who’s racing towards time to make the reduce for Paris, nonetheless, should play out of his pores and skin as he faces high seed and world no 1 Viktor Axelsen within the opening spherical, whereas the younger Priyanshu Rajawat should combat it out towards Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
The girls’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, which has completed properly in Birmingham having reached back-to-back semifinals within the final two years, will open towards the Indonesian mixture of Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa too have been in good contact and will likely be up towards Hong Kong’s Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam within the opening spherical.
The two Indian girls’s doubles pairs are combating for a Paris Olympics spot.
