Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu cruised into the second round of the All England Open with their respective opening round wins on Wednesday. Saina and Sindhu will be keen to come up with a similar performance again on Thursday. Saina is set to face qualifier Fabienne Deprez from Germany while Sindhu will meet Indonesia's Dinar Dyah Ayustiune.
Saina and Sindhu keen to deliver in the All England Open
Saina had a tough opponent in the first round as she faced Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. But, Saina, who had a disappointing 2016, looked calm and composed in her match against the defending champion. Saina seems to have improved upon her fitness, and was not troubled much in her encounter against Okuhara. She won in straight games 21-15, 21-14.
After clearing the first major hurdle in the All England Open, she will be high on confidence against Deprez in the second round. Saina, on paper, is the overwhelming favourite, and if she plays in a similar manner to the one against Okuhara, the German will not even get a sniff of a victory.
Saina and Deprez have only played once against one another, with the former having emerged victorious, when they met in the Uber Cup.
It is not only Saina, who carries the India flag in such Super Series Premier competition nowadays, as Sindhu has been climbing the world ranking charts since last year. Sindhu, currently ranked number five in the world, after a comfortable win over Danish Mette Poulsen, has another winnable match, against Dyah Ayustiune.
Sindhu was immaculate against Poulsen, drilling powerful smashes, and her game at the net also seems to have improved. If Sindhu play aggressively against Dyah Ayustine, the Rio Olympics silver medallist should not have much trouble in reaching the next round.
Saina could meet Sung Ji Hyun in the quarterfinal, while Sindhu is expected to face top seed Tai Tzu Ying, if all the players win their second round encounters on Thursday.
Where to watch live
PV Sindhu vs Dinar Dyah Ayustiune is set for a 12 pm local time ( 5:30 pm IST) start, while Saina Nehwal vs Fabienne Deprez is tentatively scheduled for 1:50 pm local time, ( 7:20 pm IST). Here are the live streaming and TV options.
India: TV: Star Sports 2/HD. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel Play.
The UK: TV: BBC. Live Streaming: BBC iPlayer
Indonesia: TV: Fox Sports.
Singapore: TV: Starhub.
Live Scores: All England Open official website
