Reiko Shiota and others aim to seal Olympic berths in badminton India Open

NEW DELHI: Besides the Olympic qualification, the India Open also assumes significance for the young generation of Indian shuttlers who would hope to make an impression at the Siri Fort Sport Complex.

World number five Saina will start her campaign against Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong and is expected to reach the quarterfinals, where she is likely to meet two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark.

The winner is likely to meet world number one Lee Chong Wei in the second round. Jayaram’s competitor for the Olympic berth, P Kashyap will take on Belgium’s Yuhan Tan in his first match and is likely to meet fifth seed Korean Hyun IL Lee if he advances.

Jwala and Diju, ranked 16th in the world, will be up against Chinese pair of Tao Jiaming and Xia Huan in their campaign opener, while Jwala and Ashwini will meet seventh seed Hong Kong pair of Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse.

Top Indian men’s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas has fierce competition in top seed Korean combo of Jae Sung Jung and Yong Dae Lee in their opener.

Among others, rising shuttler PV Sindhu will lock horns with Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles, while RMV Gurusaidutt, who was promoted to the main draw yesterday, will take on a qualifier on Wednesday. Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan will take on seventh seed Japanese Shintaro Ikeda and Reiko Shiota in the mixed doubles.

via Saina eyes title, others aim to seal Olympic berths in India Open – The Times of India.