Saina Nehwal will continue her quest for a maiden title this season, in a boost to her confidence ahead of the Rio Olympics, when she begins her campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Open Super Series Pr
Saina Nehwal will continue her quest for a maiden title this season, in a boost to her confidence ahead of the Rio Olympics, when she begins her campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Open Super Series Premier starting with the qualifiers in Jakarta on Monday.
After missing a few tournaments with a nagging ankle injury, Saina recovered well to notch up a consistent run of form, reaching the semi-finals in a slew of events, including the India Open, the Malaysia Open and the Asian Championship.
Saina, who had won the Indonesia Open title in 2009, 2010 and 2012, will hope to come up with a better show against the top shuttlers and grab her fourth crown when she opens her campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po on Tuesday.
However, P.V. Sindhu has decided to give the event a miss to focus on training after a hectic schedule last month.
In the men’s singles, K. Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram and H.S. Prannoy have skipped the event, while Parupalli Kashyap is undergoing physiotherapy after being operated for an injury.
National champion Sameer Verma will be the only Indian competing in the men’s singles after he was promoted to the main draw.
Doubles stars Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will be up against Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Ribka Sugiarto, while Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy face the Philippines’ Peter Gabriel Magnaye and Alvin Morada in the men’s doubles.
