A host of Indian shuttlers, both experienced and youngsters, will face stiff competition with several tricky first-round encounters lined up across categories as they continue their quest for glory at the $475,000 Hylo Open Super 500 tournament beginning on Tuesday. In the men’s singles, 2021 World Championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen, who reached the finals at Hong Kong Open, will be pitted against fifth seed Christo Popov of France, while US Open champion Ayush Shetty opens against Denmark’s Victor Lai.
Former world Number 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who reached the final of the Malaysia Masters earlier this year, will take on copatriot Kiran George in an all-Indian clash, while S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian faces Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao and Tharun Mannepalli, a semifinalist at the Macau Open Super 300, will square off against second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. In the women’s singles draw, Anmol Kharb, who reached the semifinals of the Arctic Open Super 500 earlier this month, will meet Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen.
Rising shuttler Unnati Hooda, the winner of the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters, has been drawn against Brazil’s Juliana Viana Vieira. Anupama Upadhyaya will lock horns with Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova, while Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj takes on Spain’s Clara Azurmendi. Shriyanshi Valishetty, who clinched the Al Ain Masters Super 100 title earlier this month, faces a tough opener against third seed Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
Aakarshi Kashyap begins her campaign against Turkey’s Neslihan Arin, and Tanya Hemanth will face fourth seed Lin Hsiang Ti of Chinese Taipei. In men’s doubles, the Indian pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K. Will take on the French duo of Christo and Toma Junior Popov in their opening round. In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will face Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai in their first-round match.
