Indian shuttlers have been in fine form in the ongoing edition of BWF World Championships in Glasgow. As we head into the third-round [R16] action of the annual world tournament, here is a complete preview of Indian matches.
Saina Nehwal [12] vs Sung Ji Hyun [2]
Start time: Not before 4 pm local/8.30 pm IST
Saina, the 2015 World Championships Silver medallist, was in fine form on Wednesday, August 23, when she disposed of lower-ranked Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland.
The second-round match was a complete mismatch as Saina, the world number 16, just needed 33 minutes to beat Jaquet 21-11, 21-12, a win that would have boosted her confidence.
However, Saina is gearing up to face one of the biggest tests of the tournament as early as in the third round against second seed Sung of South Korea.
The former world number one has a strong 7-2 head-to-head record over the world number three. However, Saina's recent form is a cause of concern.
Despite winning the season-opening Grand Prix Gold title at Malaysia Masters, Saina has struggled to find form during the recovery from a knee injury she suffered during last year's Rio Olympics.
Her performance at Superseries tournaments this year has been a shadow of her past records. It will thus be an uphill task for Saina against Sung, who has been consistently reaching the final stages of major tournaments in 2017.
The battles will get tougher and more intense as the shuttlers move towards the business end of #2017BWC
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PV Sindhu [4] vs Cheung Ngan Yi [13]
Start time: Not before 1 pm local/5.30 pm IST
Sindhu, who is one of the title favourites at the ongoing world meet, opened her campaign with a solid 21-16, 21-14 win over South Korea's unseeded shuttler Kim Hyo Min on Wednesday.
The world number five takes on world number 17 Hong Kong shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi in the pre-quarter-final meeting today.
The two shuttlers have met three times in the past and Sindhu has won all of them, including their recent meeting at 2016 Hong Kong Open. Notably, two of their three matches have gone on to the decider.
How to watch live
Global Live streaming will be available on BWF's official YouTube channel
India: TV: Star Sports 1/1 HD. Live streaming: Hotstar
UK: TV: BBC. Live streaming: BBC Sport
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
China: TV: LETV, CCTV 5+
Singapore: TV: StarHub. Live streaming: StarHub Go
Cheung though has to be on top of her game in the R16 today, especially after her marathon battle against lower-ranked Russian shuttler Evgeniya Kosetskaya that went to three games and lasted 53 minutes.
While Sindhu has won two titles (Syed Modi and India Open Superseries) this year, Cheung's performance has not been up to the mark, as she has faced first-round exits at Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and All England Championships.
Ajay Jayaram [13] vs Chen Long [5]
Start time: Not before 2 pm local/6.30 pm IST
Ajay, who has struggled a lot due to injury issues in his career, is gearing up to play one of the toughest matches of his life as he is set to take on reigning World and Olympic champion Chen in the third round of the ongoing meet.
Notably, Ajay and Chen have met five times in the past and the Indian shuttler has never won even a single game. Their last meeting came at the 2016 China Open and the two also squared off at the 2015 Korea Superseries final.
Ajay has not been in good form either this season. However, the 29-year-old has had some morale boosting wins against Chen's compatriots Tian Houwei and Qiao Bin this season.
On the other hand, with the departure of Lee Chong Wei, Chen now is the firm favourite to win the title. Ajay will thus have to punch above his weight to stand a chance of stunning the Chinese giant
Kidambi Srikanth [8] vs Anders Antonsen [14]
Start time: Not before 12.30 pm local/5 pm IST
Srikanth will start as the favourite in his third-round clash against Anders Antonsen, which will also be his first career meeting against the Dane.
The world number eight has been in sublime form this season, winning Indonesia Superseries Premier and Australia Superseries on the trot.
Srikanth also started the ongoing tournament in a commanding fashion when he outclassed unseeded Russian shuttler Sergey Sirant in straight games. He then went on to beat France's Lucas Corvee in just 32 minutes (21-9, 21-17).
On the other hand, Antonsen, ranked 18, finished as runner-up at European Championships earlier this year. The 20-year-old has also had a good start to his Glasgow campaign.
The 21-15, 21-9 crushing of Tommy Sugiarto on Wednesday would have given Antonsen a lot of confidence, but Srikanth, who is playing the best badminton of his career, might just prove too good for the young shuttler.
Sai Praneeth [15] vs Chou Tien Chen [6]
Start time: Not before 2:20 pm local/6.50 pm IST
In-form Sai faces a tough test against world number six Chen, who has a 2-0 head-to-head record over the Indian shuttler.
Chen and Sai met at the R16 round of India Open in March and it was the Chinese Taipei shuttler in straight games.
However, Sai went on to win the Singapore Superseries title in April and followed it up with a Grand Prix Gold title in Thailand in May.
The world number 19 is brimming with confidence and it was evident from the way he escaped from a critical situation during his three-game R32 match against Anthony Ginting on Wednesday. The Indian shuttler came back from behind to take the match to the decider but was trailing 18-13, after which he bounced back to take the match 14-21, 21-18, 21-19 in an hour and 12 minutes.
Chen, on the other hand, began the season on a high, winning the German Grand Prix Gold. he then finished as runner-up at India Open. But his form dipped thereafter.
Chen has played two matches which have gone down the wire in the ongoing tournament and it will be interesting to see if the 27-year-old can survive another possible long battle today.
- Also watch out for India's Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy, the 15th seeded Mixed Doubles pairing, which will take on Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto of Indonesia. (Not before 12.20 pm local/4.50 pm IST)
Global Live streaming will be available on BWF's official YouTube channel
India: TV: Star Sports 1/1 HD. Live streaming: Hotstar
UK: TV: BBC. Live streaming: BBC Sport
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go
China: TV: LETV, CCTV 5+
Singapore: TV: StarHub. Live streaming: StarHub Go
