Vantaa, Oct. 5 -- Indian shuttlers, led by two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, will look to build on the positives from their Asian Games campaign when they resume their BWF season at the $500,000 Arctic Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Tuesday.
India's shuttlers returned from the Asian Games with just one medal and four quarterfinal finishes -- two fewer medals than their tally at the previous edition in Hangzhou, China.
Sindhu lost a tight women's singles quarterfinal to China's Chen Yufei to miss out on a medal at Aichi-Nagoya.
However, the 31-year-old former world champion has been in good touch, having won the Japan Open this year. She also had a quarterfinal finish at the World CHampionships in New Delhi.
She is drawn to meet a qualifier.
Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy, who were part of the Indian men's team that won a bronze medal in Japan but did not get a game, will also look to regain their form.
Srikanth, a former world No. 1, registered a runner-up finish at US Open Super 300 this year. He will face Canada's Brian Yang in his opener.
Prannoy, a 2023 Asian Games and World Championships bronze medallist, will meet fourth seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
The 34-year-old from Kerala hasn't been in the best of form and has struggled since last year. He recently made a quarterfinal appearance at the Vietnam Open.
In the women's singles, Tanvi Sharma, who won the Taipei Open Super 300, will take on Chinese Taipei's Chiu Pin-Chian, while Isharani Baruah, a runner-up at the Vietnam Open Super 100, will square off against top seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
Ashmita Chaliha, who won her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Korea Masters Super 300, will face Denmark's seventh seed Line Christophersen, while Unnati Hooda, who stunned world No. 6 Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia at the Asian Games, will cross swords with China's Han Qian Xi.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.