Badminton action resumes in Auckland as SkyCity New Zealand Open kick-starts from Tuesday, August 1.
With the Grand Prix Gold tournament being the last major tournament before BWF World Championships begins in Glasgow on August 21, quite a few top-ranked stars have arrived in New Zealand.
Glasgow-bound Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram starts as the second seed behind former champion Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei. The 29-year-old returns to competitive action following his first-round exit at Australian Open last month.
Jayaram, who is in for a tough test at the world meet next month, will be looking for some confidence-boosting wins in Auckland.
World number 17 HS Prannoy, who won the US Open earlier this month, starts as the fourth seed, while former national champion Sourabh Varma is the seventh seed.
Parupalli Kashyap, who went finished second best in the all-Indian US Open final, starts as 15th seeed. World number 106 Siril Verma, surprisingly, starts the tournament as the 16th seeded-player.
Strong doubles contingent
In-form men's doubles pairing of Mannu Attri/B Sumeeth Reddy is seeded fourth while Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty are seeded fifth.
In the mixed doubles category, Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra start as the top seeds.
Men's singles draw preview
Second seed Ajay begins his campaign against Chia Hung Lu of Chinese Taipei on Tuesday, August 1. He is likely to face Siril as early as in the R16 and a possible quarter-final test against sixth seed Hsu Jen Hao awaits him.
Prannoy, who finds himself in the first half, will take on Indonesia's unseeded player, Shesar Hiren Rhustavito, in the first round. The in-form star is likely to take on top seed Wang in the semi-final.
On the other hand, Kashyap begins the first-round action against Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia. Another all-Indian R16 is on the cards as the comeback man is likely to take on Sourabh early.
Women's singles draw preview
Former world number one Ratchanok Intanon, who opens her campaign against Jesica Muljati of Indonesia, is favourites to win the tournament.
India's Tanvi Lad faces a tough test as early as in the first round as she faces former junior world champion and third seed Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia.
The world number 58 will join PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Rituparna Das in Glasgow.
Schedule of key matches on Tuesday, August 1
Ajay Jayaram vs Chia Hung Lu - 5:35 pm local, 11:05 am IST
HS Prannoy vs Shesar Hiren Rhustavito - 6:15 pm local, 11:45 am IST
Parupalli Kashyap vs Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka - 6:55 pm local, 12:25 pm IST
Sourabh Varma vs Nathan Tang - 8:40 pm local, 2:10 pm IST
How to watch match on TV, online [From semi-final]
India: TV: Star Sports 2. Live streaming: Hotstar
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
Singapore: TV: Star Hub. Live streaming: Starhub Go
China: TV: CCTV 5+
Worldwide live streaming: BWF YouTube channel [Not available in India]
Live scores for all matches can be followed on BWF's official website.
