Sindhu looks to complete unfinished business in Japan

Tokyo, July 22 

PV Sindhu will have to quickly pick up the pieces after her loss in the Indonesia Open final and prepare for the next battle at the Japan Open.

The $750,000 tournament will also see the return of Saina Nehwal, who had missed the Indonesia Open Super 1000 event due to fitness issues. Sindhu missed an opportunity to break a seven-month title drought when she lost in straight games to Akane Yamaguchi in Jakarta on Sunday and the Indian will look to go the full distance when she opens against China’s Han Yue here. If she crosses the opening hurdle, Sindhu will face either Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour or Japan’s Aya Ohori in the second round. The fifth seed will also aim to avenge her final loss to Yamaguchi as she is likely to face the world no 4 Japanese in the quarterfinals. 

Saina, seeded eighth and the only Indian to win a title this season, will open against  Busanan Ongbamrungphan, an opponent against whom she enjoys a 3-1 head-to-head lead. In the men’s singles, it will be an all-Indian opening round battle between HS Prannoy and eighth seed Kidambi Srikanth. The duo has faced each other five times so far in the international circuit — PTI

Junior shuttlers bow out

New Delhi: Maisnam Meiraba put up a brave effort before India bowed out of the Asia Junior Championships after suffering a 0-3 loss to Indonesia in the quarterfinals of the Mixed Team event in Suzhou, China. World No. 14 Meiraba managed to take a game off his 17th ranked opponent, Bobby Setiabudi, but the Indonesian proved too strong in the end with a 21-17 15-21 21-11 win in 59 minutes. Meiraba’s performance stood out as none of the other results went in India’s favour. In the girls’ singles, Malvika Bansod went down fighting 20-22 7-21 to junior world No. 4 Putri Kusuma Wardani. India had beaten Mongolia and Macau China by an identical score of 5-0 while they lost to South Korea 1-4 in the round-robin. PTI