Basel (Switzerland): With the All England Championship title eluding her once again, two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal will now look to clinch the Swiss Open crown to complete a hat-trick when the USD 125,000 event commences here on Tuesday. The top seed Indian will start as favourite to defend the title in the women's singles competition, which will also have former world number one Shixian Wang of China and Thai teen sensation Ratchanok Intanon, among others.
The world number three will begin her campaign against Sashina Vignes Waran of France and is expected to have a smooth sail till the quarter-finals, where she is likely to meet sixth seed Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei. With the 2010 Asian Games gold medallist, Shixian also drawn in the second half, Saina is expected to meet her for a place in the final.
The 22-year-old Hyderabadi had defeated Shixian in the quarterfinals of the All England Championship after a tight and gruelling three-game battle. Young Thai sensation Intanon Ratchanok, who spoilt Saina's All England dream, will be in the second half.
India's rising shuttler and world number 16, P V Sindhu has also been drawn in the second half of the women's singles draw and would take on third seed Ji Hyun Sung in her opening match at St. Jakobshalle here. In the men's singles, world number nine and fifth seed Parupalli Kashyap will start his campaign against Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei and is likely to face Malaysia's Wei Feng Chong in the pre-quarters.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Indian is in good form and is likely to go deeper in the draw. Among others, Sourabh Verma will take on 14th seed Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka of Indonesia, while Sai Praneeth will clash with sixth seed Daren Liew of Malaysia and K Srikanth will meet Denmark's fourth seed Jan O Jorgensen.
H S Prannoy will fight it out with Michael Lahnsteiner of Austria in the main draw. In the women's qualifiers, Tanvi Lad will be up against Shizuka Uchida of Japan, PC Thulasi will meet Germany's Olga Konon and Arundhati Pantawane will take on Ya Lan Chang of Chinese Taipei on Tuesday.
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