TNN
HYDERABAD, July 29
Chief coach Pullela Gopichand may refuse to agree but the draw for the World Championships brought smiles to many of the Indian shuttlers.
Pitted against lower ranked opponents in the first few rounds Indians are within touching distance of striking a medal at the Worlds which will be held in Jakarta from August 10 to 16.
Top shuttlers like Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are expected to reach the quarterfinals where they will face their first real test. A quarterfinal victory is enough to clinch a bronze. The draw, however, is not so easy for PV Sindhu, India’s only shuttler to win back-to-back medals at the Worlds.
“It’s a tough draw for our players. We can’t expect an easy draw at an event like World Championships,” Gopichand said. When reminded that the first few rounds are easier for most of the players, Gopi said, “I don’t think so. In Worlds every match will be tough. But we are ready for the challenge.” Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who is seeded second, got a bye in the first round and is likely to face 14th seed Sayaka Takayashi of Japan in the pre-quarterfinals. Saina, who had never won a World Championships medal, is expected to beat Sayaka and may face her nemesis Wang Yihan of China in the quarterfinals. Though the Indian has only a 10% success against Yihan, the duel against the former world champion may not very difficult for Saina.
Of late, Yihan is struggling to regain her lost glory while Saina has tasted tremendous success in the circuit winning titles like China Open and also realising her long-term dream of achieving the world No.1 rank.
A win here will help Saina to find herself in the medals tally. Sindhu too got a bye in the first round but will run into Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in the pre-quarters. The Chinese former world No.1 is struggling with her fitness and did not look convincing during her last match. If Sindhu gets past Xuerui she can easily win the quarterfinal as none of the top players are expected to reach the last eight from her end.
