So much for the home advantage! India’s two main women singles players would end up meeting in the quarterfinals itself and the best bet in men’s singles locks horns with the top seed in the last eight.
World No 2 Saina Nehwal, who is top seed for the Yonex Sunrise India Open, beginning here at Siri Fort Sports Complex from Tuesday, is slated to clash with countrymate and eighth-seeded PV Sindhu if both make it till the quarters, thereby reducing the home hopes by half.
Parupalli Kashyap, seeded fifth for the tournament, faces gigantic task of surviving former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the first round. And, if the world No 7 Indian pulls that off and triumphs in the second round, he would again be faced with the prospect of scripting an upset against world No 1 and 2011 champion lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
The crowd might play its part, to a very limited extent though, in motivating the Indian shuttlers to up the ante but the computer has ruled out any possibility of a host-favouring draw.
The absence of top Chinese shuttlers might make it a golden opportunity for Saina to clinch the trophy and make up for a second-round ouster in the last edition, but the big test would be awaiting her in the semis, where she could meet world No 8 and third seed Ratchanok Intanon. The Thai girl had beaten the Indian in the semifinals of the All England Championships recently.
However, it is the probable meeting with Sindhu, who caught attention when she beat former world No 1 Shixian Wang of China at the Asian Championships in Taipei last week, which Saina is looking forward to. “It would be an interesting match. We girls hardly get to play each other. And, being the top player, I would be a little nervous and under pressure,” Saina said during a pre-event press meet here on Monday.
But she is not discrediting the others in her half of draw too.
“It is going to be really tough. There are so many top players in the tournament. It all depends on how well you are prepared that day. All I can say is I will try my best,” said Saina, who won the 2010 edition but could not reproduce the performance in the last two years.
“My first round opponent (Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia) will be tough. Intanon played very well in the last two matches I faced her. I will have to watch her videos carefully,” added the Hyderabadi shuttler, who has been working to get her knees in the best possible shape post the 2012 london Olympics and looks forward to playing “without tape” here.
Coach Pullela Gopichand, though hoped “to see some good results at the end”, he refused to be involved in the game of predictions and who meets whom.
“I am not going that far (reading draw and probable clashes). We have hard first rounds to clear. All players must concentrate on one match at a time,” Gopichand advised as much.
The tournament which is all set to kick off with the qualifying round on Tuesday, would witness Jwala Gutta playing with a new partner in women’s doubles — Prajakta Sawant — as her former teammate Ashwini Ponnappa takes the court with Pradnya Gadre. Jwala and Ashwini could face each other in the semis if they survive their quarters of the draw. The two might meet at the same stage in mixed doubles too where Jwala would be playing with V Diju and Ashwini with Kona Tarun.