Fullerton: A big adventure is about to begin for badminton lovers. India is going to make a strong bid in the prestigious US Open Super 300 badminton tournament starting here from Tuesday. India’s challenge in this tournament will be led by experienced star player Lakshya Sen and rising sensation Tanvi Sharma. Many other Indian shuttlers are also trying their luck in the singles matches, including the name of experienced Kidambi Srikanth.
India’s main player Lakshya Sen, who is ranked 14th in the world ranking, has been given second seed in this tournament. In the first round, he will face Julien Caraggi of Belgium. Forgetting the regret of his first round exit at the Indonesia Open earlier this month, Lakshya is all set to make a strong comeback here.
At the same time, experienced men’s player Kidambi Srikanth will start his campaign against Liao Zuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei. Another Indian player, Sanith Dayanand will face fourth seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan, while S Shankar Muthusamy Subramanian has made it into the main draw and will face a qualifier in the first round.
Anmol Kharab, who is ranked 51st in the world rankings, will face Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in the first round.
Rakshita Sri S will face a qualifier in the first round and if she wins, she may face a tough challenge from top seed Michelle Li of Canada in the next round.
Sriyanshi Valishetti will play her first match against Canada’s Rachel Chan.
Tanya Hemant will face third seed Riko Gunji of Japan and Akarshi Kashyap will face Tung Siu-Tong of Chinese Taipei.
This time in the women’s singles category, a total of seven Indian players will take to the court and present a challenge. Fifth seeded 17-year-old Tanvi Sharma (world ranking 32) will play her first match against Germany’s Yvonne Li in the tournament. At the same time, sixth seed Devika Sihag (world ranking 34) will face Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar of Peru.
In the women’s doubles, India’s entire hopes rest on the pair of Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand. The first match of the Indian pair will be against Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez. The surprising thing is that this time no Indian pair is included in the men’s doubles draw.
Talking about mixed doubles, seventh seeded Indian pair of Dhruv Rawat and Manisha will take the court against Indonesia’s Wirawan Ihsan Adam and Serena Kani.
