Seasoned campaigner Lakshya Sen and rising star Tanvi Sharma will lead India’s challenge at the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament, which begins in Fullerton on Tuesday. India will have a sizeable presence across the singles draws, including former world championships silver-medallist Kidambi Srikanth and a seven-strong women’s singles team, as the country looks to make an impact across multiple categories.
Sen, ranked world No. 14 and a Paris Olympics semifinalist, has been seeded second and drawn to face Belgium’s Julien Carraggi in the opening round. The men’s singles field is headlined by top seed and world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who sits in the opposite half of the draw.
Sen could potentially run into Chou if he goes deep in the tournament. The Indian holds a 5-4 head-to-head record against Chou and has won their last two meetings. Sen will also be looking to respond after a disappointing first-round exit at the Indonesia Open earlier this month.
India’s singles draws: key openers and seeds
In men’s singles, Srikanth is the other seeded Indian. Seeded fifth, he will open his campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Liao Jhuo-Fu. India also have Saneeth Dayanand in the main draw, with the unseeded shuttler set to begin against fourth seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan.
S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian has also made the main draw and will face a qualifier in the round of 32, adding to India’s depth in the men’s singles bracket.
In women’s singles, India have seven players in the main draw. The contingent is led by fifth seed Tanvi Sharma and sixth seed Devika Sihag, ranked 32nd and 34th in the world respectively. Three Indians are placed in the top half of the draw, while four, including Tanvi and Devika, feature in the bottom half.
The 17-year-old Tanvi, who reached the semifinals of the Orleans Masters in March and recently made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Super 500, will open against Germany’s Yvonne Li. Devika, who has already won two titles this year — the Thailand Masters Super 300 and the Azerbaijan International in back-to-back tournaments in January-February — will begin against Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar of Peru.
World No. 51 Anmol Kharb, a quarterfinalist at last week’s Macau Open, will take on Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in the opening round. In the top half, Rakshitha Sree S will first face a qualifier and, if she progresses, is likely to meet top seed and world No. 13 Michelle Li of Canada in the round of 16.
Shriyanshi Valishetty is the other Indian in the top half and will begin against Canada’s Rachel Chan. In the bottom half, Tanya Hemanth faces a stern opener against third seed and world No. 19 Riko Gunji of Japan, while Aakarshi Kashyap will be up against Chinese Taipei’s Tung Ciou-Tong.
Doubles entries: Jolly-Gayatri in women’s doubles, Rawat-Maneesha in mixed
India’s doubles representation is more limited. In women’s doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be India’s lone representatives in the main draw, and they will open against Spain’s Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez.
India will also have a presence in mixed doubles through seventh seeds Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K, who begin against Indonesia’s Wirawan Ihsan Adam and Serena Kani. There are no Indians in the men’s doubles main draw.
With seeded contenders in both singles draws and a broad women’s singles lineup, India’s early-round matchups in Fullerton will set the tone for the week, starting with Sen’s opener and Tanvi’s first test against Yvonne Li.
