Malaysia Masters 2019: Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth seeded 7th, PV Sindhu opts not to play
2018 didn't prove to be a good year for Indian badminton due to the lack of the number of titles won. Indian shuttlers might be looking forward to forgetting about this upsetting year and start 2019 on a fresh note.
The draw for the PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2019 was announced recently. PV Sindhu has opted not to play in this tournament, on the other hand, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth both have been seeded 7th in their respective categories.
The world no. 9 and Commonwealth Games 2018 gold medalist Saina Nehwal will start her campaign against the World no. 43 Hong Kong player Deng Joy Xuan. Saina has been kept in the same half with Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin. If Saina manages to clear the first two rounds then she would probably face Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals and Carolina Marin in the semifinals.
Saina Nehwal has to be at her best if she wants to win this title of World No. 1 and last year's runner-up Tai Tzu Ying has also confirmed her participation for this tournament.
In the men's singles, Indian star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has been seeded 7th. He will be facing World No. 14 Hong Kong player NG Ka Kong Agnus. If he manages to clear the first and the second round, he might possibly face fourth-seeded Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, unseeded B Sai Praneeth will have a tough task to handle as he will be facing Rio Olympics Gold Medalist and third-seeded Chen Long in the very first round.
In men's doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankyreddy will face the Chinese duo of Ou Xuanyi and Ren Xiangyu in the very first round. If they manage to cross the first hurdle then they will possibly meet the World No. 1 Indonesian duo of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the second round.
In women's doubles, the Indian duo of Ashwini Ponnapa and N Sikki Reddy will play the Hong Kong duo of Ng Tsz Yau and Yuen Sin Ying in the opening round. If they manage to cross the first round they might possibly face the 6th seeded Japenese duo of Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto in the second round.
In mixed doubles, Ashwini Ponnapa and Satwiksairaj Rankyreddy will face English duo of Ben Lane and Jessica Pugh in opener whereas N Sikki Reddy and Pranav Jerry Chopra will start their campaign against a qualifier.
The tournament will be played between January 15 and January 20, 2019, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.