On day two of the BWF Badminton World Championships in Basel, Indian shuttler HS Prannoy stunned two-time Olympic and five-time world champion Lin Dan in a hard-fought match while Sai Praneeth outplayed Lee Dong Keun to enter the pre-quarterfinals.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Prannoy faces an uphill task against top seed Kento Momota of Japan but that is not until Thursday.
The third day will finally see the star Indian duo of Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu begin their campaigns in the women’s singles round of 32 after receiving opening round byes. K Srikanth, the seventh seed, is in action on day three too.
Here’s a look at India’s opponents on Wednesday:
PV Sindhu (TV court)
World No 5 Sindhu will take on Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po after receiving a first-round bye. Pai, in the round of 64, defeated Linda Zetchiri 21-18, 21-17. This is the third time Sindhu takes on the 28-year-old Taiwanese shuttler in the BWF circuit.
Opponent’s rank: 45
Head-to-head: Sindhu leads 2-0
Previous meetings:
Saina Nehwal (TV court)
Just like Sindhu, the former silver medallist Nehwal had an opening round bye. In the round of 32, she will take on Netherlands’ Soraya de Visch Eijbergen. The Dutch player had beaten Sabrina Jaquet 21-17, 21-15 in the first round.
Opponent’s rank: 72
Head-to-head: No previous meetings
Previous meetings: N/A
K Srikanth
Given how long they both have been on the circuit, it is surprising Srikanth and 30-year-old Misha Zilberman have never played each other ahead of their meeting on Wednesday. The world No 10 will take on the journeyman Israeli in the second round after surviving a scare against Nhat Nguyen in the opening round.
From the archive: Svetlana and Misha Zilberman, the mother-son duo, play badminton against all odds
Opponent’s rank: 45
Head-to-head: No previous meetings
Previous meetings: N/A
Ashwini Ponnappa / Sikki Reddy
After a late walkover on Tuesday in their opening round fixture, Ashwini and Reddy have their tasks cut out. They take on 2019 Thailand and Malaysia Open runners-up Du Yue and Li Yin Hui from China.
Opponent’s rank: 7
Head-to-head: Du / Li lead 1-0
Previous meetings: India Open 2018, Chinese duo won 21-17, 23-21.
J Meghana / Poorvisha S Ram
The world No 41 pair also have their tasks cut out as they take on 2019 Thailand Open winners and 2018 Worlds bronze medallists Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto from Japan.
Opponent’s rank: 8
Head-to-head: Tanaka / Yonemoto lead 1-0
Previous meetings: All England 2018, the Japanese duo won 21-14, 21-11.
Manu Attri / B Sumeeth Reddy
The experienced Indian duo, ranked 25 in the world also face a tough opponent. They take on young Chinese pair Han Cheng Kai and Zhou Dong Hao who are former junior world champs.
Opponent’s rank: 6
Head-to-head: Han Cheng Kai / Zhou Dong Hao lead 2-0
Previous meetings:
MR Arjun / Shlok Ramachandran
After overcoming a Swiss wildcard pair, the lowest ranked Indian men’s doubles pair (at No 50) also take on a higher-ranked pair. They will face 16th seeds from China Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan.
Opponent’s rank: 24
Head-to-head: Cheng / Zhang lead 1-0
Previous meetings: Thomas Cup 2018, Chinese duo won 21-12, 21-15.
