Birmingham, Mar 6:
Olympic medallists Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu will look to become only the third Indian to lay hands on the prestigious All England trophy when they lead the home challenge at the Super Series Premier tournament, starting with the qualifiers here tomorrow.
Ever since Pullela Gopichand emulated Prakash Padukone’s 1980 feat in 2001, no Indian has ever laid claim to the crown with Saina being the country’s only shuttler to come close to achieving that rare feat when she reached the finals at 2015 before losing to Olympic champion Carolina Marin.
Back to full fitness after putting in the hard yards following a complete recovery from the knee injury, which had broken her Rio Olympics dream, Saina is now aiming to regain her position in world badminton and will be eager to dish out a powerpacked performance at the Barclaycard Arena.
On the other hand, Sindhu, who became the toast of the nation after her historic silver medal at the Rio Olympics, will be keen to erase the memory of a first round exit in the last edition with another determined effort which helped her to claim her maiden title at China Open last year.
Eighth seeded Saina, who fought back from a career-threatening knee injury in August to not only recover but start competitive badminton in November, will face defending champion Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, who is nursing a shoulder injury. She last played in November where she withdrew half-way through her first round encounter.
“I was runners-up in 2015 All England Championship but facing Carolina (Marin) was a very big task. She overpowered me and won the title. I am fine and well-trained now so I am ready to face my opponents,” World No. 10 Saina said.
In the form of her life, sixth seed Sindhu will face Denmark’s Mette Poulsen in the opening round and is likely to meet world No. 1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei at the quarterfinals if she doesn’t suffer any hiccups. (PTI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel