Shenzhen: Leaving behind the disappointment of early exit at the World Championships, Lakshya Sen will now lead the Indian challenge in the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament starting on Tuesday. In this tournament with a prize money of US$ 12,50,000, Indian players are going to face tough challenges from the very beginning.
Lakshya Sen's campaign will begin with a match against world champion Alex Lanier of France. In such a situation, he will face a big test in the very first round and this match will also give an idea of his current form.
World champion in the very first match against Lakshya Sen
After an early round exit in the World Championships, Lakshya Sen will now look to perform better in the China Masters. However, their path is not going to be easy.
In the first round itself, he will face Alex Lanier of France. Lanier is the world champion and in such a situation, Lakshya will have to play his best from the very beginning and secure his place in the tournament.
Chi Yu-jen of Chinese Taipei in front of Srikanth
India's experienced player Kidambi Srikanth will also challenge in men's singles. Srikanth, who reached the US Open Super 300 final in June, will face Chi Yu-jen of Chinese Taipei in the first round.
Srikanth's current season has been full of ups and downs. Due to injury in Canada Open, he had to withdraw from the tournament, whereas after this, he could not go beyond the first round in Korea Masters also.
Big expectations from Satvik-Chirag
India's biggest hope in men's doubles will be from the fourth seeded pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
Earlier this year, both of them ended their two-year long wait for an international title by winning the Singapore Open title.
Their first match in China Masters will be against China's Hu Ke Yuan and Lin Jiang Yi. The Indian pair will be eyeing a long shot in the tournament.
Eye on three young Indians in women's singles
The most interesting aspect of India's challenge in the women's singles is the presence of three young players. Special attention will be kept on the performance of Unnati Hooda, Tanvi Sharma and Devika Sihag.
Rohtak's 18-year-old Unnati Hooda will face fifth seed Han Yu of China in the first round. Whereas Tanvi Sharma will face against Amalie Schulze of Denmark.
Devika Sihag will face Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria.
This tournament will be an important opportunity for all three to showcase their ability against top level international players.
Competition with world champion pair in men's doubles
The Indian men's doubles pair of Hariharan Amasakarunan and MR Arjun will face a tough challenge in the first round itself. Both will face eighth seeded Japanese pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.
The Japanese pair is the 2021 world champion, so the Indian players will face a tough competition from the very beginning.
Indian challenge in mixed doubles also
In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto will face Thailand's Tonkid and Tonrug Saeheng.
Meanwhile, the pair of Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will start their campaign against Chinese Taipei's Wu Guan Xun and Lee Chia Hsin.
Indian players face strong international challenge in different categories in China Masters. In such a situation, the tournament can prove to be an important platform for Indian badminton to test the current form of the players and the potential of young talents.
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