Saina aims at title defence at Swiss Open
Saina aims at title defence at Swiss Open
World number four Saina will open her campaign against Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women's singles competition.

New Delhi: India ace Saina Nehwal will have to put behind her quarter-final finish at the All England Championships and gather herself quickly to defend her title at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which starts with the qualifiers at Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday.

World number four Saina will open her campaign against Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women's singles competition.

The 21-year-old Indian has a 2-1 record against the Japanese. The last time they meet, Saina had defeated her in straight games at the World Superseries Finals in 2011.

National champion PV Sindhu, who has been making a lot of news since last year on the international circuit, will take on Jie Yao of The Netherlands.

In the men's singles, national champion Sourabh Verma will be up against Hong Kong's Wing Ki Wong, while RMV Gurusaidutt will lock horns with the formidable fourth seed Jin Chen of China.

Senior shuttler Arvind Bhat will take on Dmytro Zavadsky of Ukraine in his opening match, while world number 25 Ajay Jayaram will meet Ivan Sozonov. World number 29 P Kashyap will face Stanislav Pukhov of Russia in another men's singles match.

Top Indian men's doubles pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar will take on Dutch pair of Ruud Bosch and Koen Ridder, while Commonwealth Games gold medalist combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will play third seeds Japanese duo of Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito in the women's doubles competition.

Jwala and V Diju will be up against the Japanese combo of Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo in their opener in the mixed doubles event.

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