All England Open 2022: All eyes will be on in-form Lakshya Sen, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and World Championships silver medalist Kidambi Srikanth as India’s 21-year drought of the title at the All England Championships begins here on Wednesday. with the intention of eliminating it. India’s top badminton players like Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth have failed to win the All England Championship title. Only Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Prakash Padukone (1980) have won titles for India in this prestigious tournament.
Saina came close to winning the title by reaching the finals in 2015 while Sindhu, who has been successful in winning medals in all other major events like Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, has also failed to win the All England Championships. Sixth seed Sindhu will once again be a contender for victory while the 20-year-old Lakshya has raised hopes with a consistent performance ahead of this Super 1000 tournament. The Almora player has to face compatriot Saurabh Verma in the first round.
Just 1️⃣ day to go.
Live Scores ️ https://t.co/Edt86O2RgD
Live Stream ️ https://t.co/SM4BVeUwLP #BWFWorldTour #AllEngland2022 pic.twitter.com/lL8P8htEXL— BWF (@bwfmedia) March 15, 2022
Sindhu, who lost to lower-ranked China’s Zheng Yi Men in the second round of the Germany Open, will begin her campaign against world No. 17 Wang Xie Yi of China. World Championships 2019 gold medalist Sindhu may face Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals if she wins the first two rounds. Saina, who lost to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon at the Germany Open, will face a tough challenge from Thailand’s world number 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong in the opening round itself.
World number one Srikanth has been in good form and will face Thailand’s Kentaphon Vengcheron in the first round. If he wins the first round, he could face fifth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneeth, who has struggled with fitness and his performance for the past few months, will face the challenge of Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the first round itself after recovering from COVID-19. Sameer Verma will start his campaign against Mark Kaljov of the Netherlands. Returning HS Prannoy will take on the very talented Kunlawut Vitidasarn from Thailand.
In the men’s doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy would like to continue their winning streak at the India Open in January. The pair will face the Scottish pair of Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall in the first round. Dhrupa Kapila and MR Arjun will face the world number two pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the opening round itself. In the women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will face Japan’s Kei Nakanishi and Rin Ivanga.