Japan Open: All eyes on struggling PV Sindhu, in-form Satwik-Chirag
Jul 25, 2023
Tokyo [Japan], July 25 : Indian ace PV Sindhu will be aiming to regain her form while the red-hot men's doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will aim to carry forward their momentum after the Korea Open as the Indian contingent looks forward to the Japan Open, set to take place from July 25 to July 30.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag, currently ranked at number three in Badminton World Federation Rankings (BWF), clinched the Korean Open title on Saturday after overcoming a challenge from top-ranked Indonesian pair of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the final.
As per Olympics.com, this was Satwik-Chirag's third BWF title win this year after the Swiss Open and Indonesia Open. They are also current Asian badminton champions and are undefeated in their last 10 BWF World Tour matches.
PV Sindhu will be aiming to make a great progress in this BWF Super 750 tournament. In the Asian Games year, Sindhu is having a bad season, making a first-round exit in six of her 12 BWF tournaments.
Sindhu's disappointing performances have caused her to slip to world number 17 position, her worst in a decade. She was without a coach since February and named Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim as her personal coach last week until the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
As a result, Sindhu has dropped to world No. 17 in the badminton rankings, her worst in a decade.
Results at Japan Open will be counted towards the player's qualifying rankings for the multi-sport event at Paris. The qualification window for badminton started earlier on May 1 this year.
The men's singles event will see HS Prannoy, seeded eighth and former world number Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen in action. The young Orleans Masters champion Priyanshu Rajawat will also be representing the tricolour at the event.
India’s top women’s duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly will also take part in the Tokyo event.
