BWF World Championships: All Indians in action on Day 1

BWF World Championships: On the first day of the BWF World Championships, two Indian male singles shuttlers and one men’s doubles pair and one women’s doubles pair will be seen in action. All eyes will be on Kidambi Srikanth, the highest seeded Indian male shuttler in the competition. Follow BWF World Championships Live updates on InsideSport.IN

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The first to take to the court will be the men’s doubles pairing of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy. They will take on the Danish pair of Joel Eipe and Rasmus Kjaer on court 1.

BWF World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and doubles action on Day 1, check details

After their match gets over, the final scheduled match on Court 1 will begin which will feature 12th seed and former World No 1 Kidambi Srikanth. His opponent will be Spain’s World No 53 Pablo Abian. This will be the second meeting between the players, their previous encounter going the Indian’s way at the 2018 World Championships in Nanjing.

Srikanth has got a tough draw. If he manages to overcome Pablo Abian, a potential third round encounter against either World No 4 Chou Tien Chen or rising Thai star Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who reached the final at the World Tour Finals, awaits.

India’s action will then shift to Court 2 as the women’s doubles pairing of Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh will be seen in action. They will face the Dutch pair of Imke Van Der Aar and Alyssa Tirtosentono.

BWF World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and doubles action on Day 1, check details

The final match for India will be another blockbuster as 14th seed and former BWF World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth. He will meet Dutch shuttler Mark Caljouw.

Sai Praneeth will have revenge on his mind as Mark had beaten the Indian in their only previous meeting at the Tokyo Olympics. Even though Sai Praneeth was expected to progress being the higher seed, he lost 14-21, 14-21 to bow out of the Olympics in the group stage. It will not be an easy encounter as Caljouw had reached the semifinals of the All England Open earlier this year.

Sai Praneeth has, on paper, a solid chance to reach at least the quarterfinals. Srikanth, however, faces a trickier road. Should he prevails against Abian and then move on to the third round, a potential battle awaits against either fourth seed Chou Tien Chen or rising Thai star Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who reached the final at the World Tour Finals. If Srikanth and Sai Praneeth both survive three rounds, India will be assured a men’s singles medal.

BWF World Championships: Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and doubles action on Day 1, check details

For Sai Praneeth, Indonesia’s withdrawal from the BWF World Championships has meant he has managed to avoid a potential third round encounter against fifth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

Lakshya Sen’s first round match against Max Weisskirchen will not be played after his opponent withdrew.

Badminton