French Open 2023: Preview and schedule of the tournament
While several Indian shuttlers will come back from a well-deserved rest, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will be playing their fourth tournament in four weeks at the Yonex French Open 2023. The Super 750 event will see participation from some of the biggest names in world badminton. The tournament will be played in Rennes, France, from October 24 to 29.
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu didn’t have the best start to the year, with several early exits, but the Hyderabadi shuttler has managed to turn things around since the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Sindhu has been playing some brilliant badminton over the last month. The 28-year-old reached her third consecutive quarterfinal and second consecutive semifinal at the Denmark Open last week, and fans will hope the Indian shuttler will manage to reach the final this time around.
The recently crowned World No. 1 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will also be seen in action for the first time since their historic triumph at the Asian Games. The pair gave a walkover at the Denmark Open.
Alongside Sindhu, Satwik, Chirag, and Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, Rutuparna Panda, and Swetaparna Panda will also be seen in action at the French Open.
In the men’s singles categories, Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth will both take on French opponents. Lakshya will face Arnaud Merkle, while former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth will face off against T. Popov.
PV Sindhu will start her campaign against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the women’s singles Round of 32. Sindhu recently played against her Indonesian opponent in the pre-quarterfinals of the Denmark Open. The match went the distance last time around, with Sindhu eventually winning 18-21, 21-15, 21-13, but this result shows that the Indian shuttler will not have an easy start to the tournament.
India’s campaign in the doubles categories will be spearheaded by the Asian Games gold medalist pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. They will take on Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France in the first round, but they could potentially face a tough challenge in the form of the highly experienced duo of M. Ahsan and H. Setiawan in the next round.
The only other doubles candidates from India are the Panda sisters. Rutuparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda will begin their campaign against Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min from China on October 24.
Unfortunately, HS Prannoy will be missing in action once again. The Indian shuttler who injured his back at the Asian Games announced his withdrawal from the tournament just before the Denmark Open, saying he would be out for at least 2–3 weeks to recover from the injury. Aakarshi Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat, who were earlier expected to take part in the tournament, have also pulled out.
French Open 2023: (Probable schedule)
First round: October 24–25, 2023
Second round: October 26, 2023
Quarter-finals: October 27, 2023
Semi-finals: October 28, 2023
Finals: October 29, 2023
Indian contingent playing at the French Open 2023
Men's singles: Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen
Women’s singles: PV Sindhu
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
Women's doubles: Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda