Top Indian female shuttlers -- Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu -- are going to be in action in the ongoing Denmark Open Superseries Premier for their respective second round clash on Thursday. Saina Nehwal will square off against Japanese Minatsu Mitani, while Sindhu will face third seed Tai Tzu Ying.
Saina survived a first round scare as she had to battle it out against Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungphan in the first round with the match being stretched to three sets. The score read a close 23-21, 14-21 and 21-18.
The top seed needs to come up with a better performance against the Japanese, Mitani, who had no trouble in defeating Porntip Buranprasertsuk in the first round. Mitani and Saina have met eight times in the past with Saina enjoying a 5-3 win-loss record. However, the Japanese got the better off Saina in their last meet in the Japan Open in August 2015.
Hence, Minatsu will head into the match full of confidence despite Saina being a superior player in the circuit. Saina, who won the Denmark Open in 2012, needs to be on top of her game against Manatsu if she is to have any chance of progressing in the competition and push for her second Denmark Open title.
Fellow Indian Sindhu has her work cut out as she faces the third seed, Tai Tzu Ying, who is one of the favourites for the Denmark Open title.
Their head-to-head record, which reads 3-1 in favour of the Chinese Taipei player, also indicates the tough task for Sindhu, who has defeated some top class players in the past. Can Sindhu upset the third seed?
Sindhu has it in her to defeat the best in the business with her aggressive game, but has been inconsistent in the badminton circuit, which has led to frustrating times for her fans. The Indian possesses a dangerous offensive game, which she needs to bring to the table on Thursday when she faces Tzu Ying.
Both the Indian shuttlers will be eager to perform in the Denmark Open after their impressive performance in the 2015 World Championships. But, Saina and Sindhu, are both aware of the huge task ahead of them in the competition with some big players such as Li Xuerui, Wang Yihan, Carolina Marin amongst other shuttlers keen to lift the Denmark Open.
Where to watch live
The Saina Nehwal vs Minatsu Mitani Denmark Open second round clash has been scheduled for 5:40pm local time (9:10pm IST), while PV Sindhu vs Tai Tzu Ying is scheduled for 7:15pm local time (10:45pm IST) start.
Star Sports 4/HD will offer live coverage of the Denmark Open matches in India, while live streaming option is also available on starsports.com.
Click here for all the live score updates.
*Expected start time could change as per the duration of other matches.
