Saina & co. prepare themselves for a tough challenge at BAC 2017

BADMINTON ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS has kick-started today with the qualifying rounds but the main rounds begin tomorrow in Wuhan, China.

And Indian stalwarts that include the likes of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram, HS Prannoy compete in the singles event while Sikki Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa, Jakkampudi Meghana/Poorvisha Ram, Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra/Sikki compete in the doubles category respectively.

Saina who skipped the Singapore Super Series will be eager to get to court at the BAC and give her best. The former World No. 1 shouldn't have problems in the initial stages of her campaign but a challenge awaits in the quarter-finals as she is likely to face current World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying who is on an incredible journey this year and it will be a task at hand for the Indian to end her unbeatable run.

Seventh seed Saina's opening round opponent is Japanese Sayaka Sato against whom she enjoys a 6-1 head-to-head count.

Meanwhile 4th seed Sindhu may face two tough opponents early in the campaign but considering her form and comeback performances in the past, she should be able to overcome them. In the opening round she faces Indonesian Dinar Dyah Ayustine. Her first challenge would in the quarters where she is likely to face 8th seed He Bingjiao and if she is able to overcome that, her next challenge would be facing 6th seed Intanon or second seed Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-finals.

On the other hand, the men's singles shuttlers face tougher opponents in the opening rounds. Ajay who is currently ranked 13, top among the Indian shuttlers (men's) will face 5th seed Chinese Tian Houwei while Prannoy who also skipped the Singapore SS to concentrate on his training plays 8th seed Ng Ka Long Angus from Hong Kong. If Ajay is able to through, he is likely to face top seed Lee Chong Wei in the quarters.

While Prannoy is likely to face second seed Chen Long in the quarters if he is able to go through early in his campaign.

Same is the case with the doubles shuttlers. Attri/Sumeeth play their opening round against 5th seeds from China Fu Haifeng /Zhang Nan; Ashwini/Sikki play Chae Yoo Jung/Kim So Yeong and if they cross this hurdle they next face challenge in top seeds Ayaka Takahashi/Misaki Matsutomo against whom when they played last, put up a great fight but it wasn't just enough. If they pull up a surprise here, it will be a great boost for the Indian duo.

Meghana/Poorvisha play second seeds Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan in the opening round. And finally Pranaav/Sikki play top seeds Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen in their opening round of the mixed doubles event.

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