Indian badminton stars PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were pitted in the same quarter as reigning women’s singles world champion Akane Yamaguchi as the draws for the All England Championships 2022 were published on Tuesday.
The tournament will be held from 16 to 20 March in Birmingham.
Sindhu was drawn against a tricky opponent in world No 17 Wang Zhi Yi for the first round, while Nehwal will face world No 10 Pornpawee Chochuwong in her opener in what is set to be a massive challenge for the former world No 1 against a Thai shuttler who has been enjoying great results in recent times contrary to the Indian.
For Sindhu, even before a potential quarterfinal against a familiar foe in Yamaguchi (who she defeated at the last All England), she will need to overcome either Sayaka Takahashi / Supanida Katethong in the second round, two left-handers who could trouble the two-time Olympic medallist.
The men’s singles draw also threw up some fascinating early matchups. World No 3 Anders Antonsen and world No 9 and world champion Loh Kean Yew are set for a mouthwatering first round clash in a repeat of the clash in Huelva last year that prompted the Dane to call the Singaporean “superman”. The winner of that match will face the winner of an all-Indian opener between Lakshya Sen and Sourabh Verma. Either way, it promises to be a tough early test for Sen, the worlds bronze medallist.
Srikanth Kidambi, meanwhile, was drawn in the same quarter as World No 1 Viktor Axelsen, who will face 2019 Basel worlds bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth in the opener. Axelsen could face Sameer Verma in the second round, while Srikanth takes on the winner of Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Parupalli Kashyap.
In men’s doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will face Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall in the first round. The Indian duo could face the world No 1 Kevin Sukamuljo and Marcus Gideon in the quarterfinals. We could have an all-Indian second round clash if Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishunvardhan Goud Panjala win their opening round.
Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun, the third Indian men’s doubles pair competing, were drawn against the world No 2 pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in the first round.
In women’s doubles, India’s Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will face Japan’s Kie Nakanishi and Rin Iwanaga in the first round.
India’s mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto is also set to face a stern test in the opening round. They were drawn against the Indonesian world No 5 pair of Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti.
Elsewhere second seed Kento Momota, also a former singles champion, is up against Axelsen’s Danish counterpart and Thomas Cup teammate Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus for his first round tie in the bottom half of the draw.
In the women’s singles, world number one and three-time Yonex All England Open champion Tai Tzu Ying will take on Lianne Tan in the first round.
Akane Yamaguchi, seeded second, goes up against Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand, and is in the same half of the draw as Chen Fu Yei (3) who will have to navigate an all-Chinese tie with Zhang Yi Man in the first round. He Bingjiao is also in this half alongside Sindhu. In the top half, Tai alongside An Seyoung, Ratchanok Intanon and Nozomi Okuhara should reach the quarters if seedings hold.
Former world and Olympic champion Carolina Marin, who is working towards making a comeback, is not present in the women’s singles draw.
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