TEAM PREVIEW: Chennai strongly pin their hopes on Sindhu, but likely to feel the heat in other categories
CHENNAI SMASHERS, owned by the Wones Pvt. Ltd. is a newly formed team in the Premier Badminton League (PBL) which kick-starts from 2nd January.
The smashers will be led by one of India's leading shuttler PV Sindhu who got the second highest bid in the auction. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a great season this year having won the Macau Open for the third consecutive time and was also a runner-up at Denmark Open SSP.
The Padma Shri award winner has showcased her potential by playing her best against the best. It will be a great match to witness for the fans when Sindhu will be up against Saina who is from team Awadhe Warriors.
Sindhu is the strongest candidate in her category as the other shuttler is 17-year-old Kudaravalli Srikrishna Priya, who is a budding talent in the sport. Priya currently trains under the guidance of national chief coach P Gopichand and it will be interesting to see how the youngster compliments her senior pro. She represented India in the junior categories at the Dutch Open and German Open this year.
The men's singles category has the combination of Brice Leverdez, Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso. The No.1 Frenchman Brice won the Italian International and was a semi-finalist at the Irish Open. However, the 29-year-old's performance wasn't consistent in the other major events.
The Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro has enjoyed a good run in 2015 by winning Chinese Taipei Masters and Indonesia Masters. His compatriot, Santoso too has won the Singapore Open this year and also won the Australian Open in 2014. Both these players will be the favourites to play the singles match as they have many more commendable achievements over the Frenchman. Given the options, it will be interesting to see who the Chennai coach decides to operate with.
The men's doubles and mixed doubles category comprises of shuttlers Pranaav Jerry Chopra, Chris Adcock and Toby Ng. Chopra is often seen alongside Akshay Dewalkar in the men's doubles contest while the other two are mainly known for their mixed doubles events.
Chris is known for his achievements along with his wife Gabrielle Adcock who are hailed as the Adcock couple, they won the Dubai SSF early this month. While Toby Ng and partner Alexandra Bruce were runners-up at the Pan American Games in Toronto this year.
The female shuttlers in the mixed doubles include Sikki Reddy and Pia Zebadiah. Both the shuttlers are good in their domain and have the experience of playing in both the categories which comes as a plus point for the Smashers. Reddy has two mixed doubles and three women's doubles title to her name this year. The 26-year-old Indonesian who is the sibling of Marcus Kido was the runner-up at Swiss International challenge (women's doubles) and won the mixed doubles title in the same event.
Overall, the team looks ready to smash but lack depth and variety. They will also continue to rely heavily on Sindhu in the women's singles category. The Indian is likely to shoulder the responsibility well, but Chennai is likely to feel the heat in other categories.
