Seeded No.1, good time for Sindhu to clinch her second title in a row
TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE MEDALLIST PV Sindhu will be all geared up for the next challenge, the Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold starting December 1st.
After winning the Macau Open for the third consecutive time, Sindhu has been seeded no. 1 in Indonesia. She will begin her campaign against Gregoria Mariska from Indonesia, and this will be their first meeting.
The 20-year old has been in good touch and will be aiming to clinch her second title in a row. Earlier this year, she ended as runner-up at the Denmark Open, her first-ever Super Series tournament.
"It was a great win. I am really happy for the victory. My immediate target now is Indonesia," Sindhu told PTI.
The No.1 seeding must have surely boosted her confidence level, and the expectations have also gone up. With the 2016 Rio Olympics in sight, this is a superb opportunity for the Indian shuttler to ace her preparations.
In the men's singles category, Kidambi Srikanth has been seeded no. 1 and will begin against Wibowo Setyaldi Putra of Indonesia in their first-ever encounter. Srikanth has dropped one place in his ranking to No. 8, and it is primarily because of his first-round exits in the recent tournaments.
Being the only male shuttler to represent India at the Dubai Superseries final should give him the boost and the drive to perform.
The other two shuttlers in the same category are HS Prannoy and RVM Gurusaidutt. Prannoy has been seeded 3rd while Gurusaidutt is placed at 8. HS Prannoy's recent performances have been quite inconsistent, and he needs to get his rhythm back. He performs well in the group stages but eventually bows out in the pre-quarters or the semi-finals. At the Indonesia Masters, if all goes well then it is likely that Prannoy and Gurusaidutt will face each other in the quarters which will indeed be a mouth watering encounter to witness.
In that case, the head-to-head count between the two are in favour of Prannoy who leads 2-0. But for that to happen, one will have to wait and watch as the tournament progresses. The first round opponent for Prannoy is Panji Ahmad Maulana from Indonesia, and the two have never faced each other before.
On the other hand, Gurusaidutt was last seen at the Dutch Open where he reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by 12th seeded Raul Must 19-21, 21-14, 21-18. A series of injuries has put him out of action of late.
With plenty of rest, the Indian will be itching to perform better. He begins his campaign against Simon Santoso of Indonesia who has an upper hand, leads 1-0 in the head-to-head count. If everything goes in the Indian shuttler's favour, we will see him progress and set up a match against fellow-Indian shuttler Prannoy.
