The Malaysia Open begins on Wednesday and it will be the second Superseries Premier event of the year after the All England Open. No Indian has managed to win the title at the tournament since it was first played in 1937 and, though Sindhu recorded an emphatic win over Carolina Marin to take the India Open this past weekend, it won't be plain sailing for her in Malaysia.
Sindhu (seeded sixth), Saina Nehwal, Ajay Jayaram and Sai Praneeth will be India's flag bearers at the tournament. But what's in store for them? Let's find out.
Sindhu vs. Tai Tzu Ying
If PV Sindhu survives the first two rounds, a potential clash with world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying awaits. Sindhu has a 12-1 win-loss record this year and won the India Open Superseries last week. Her only loss in 2017 came against Tai in the quarterfinals of the All England Open in Birmingham. Sindhu is likely to run into Tai again in the quarterfinals with relatively easy opponents in the first two rounds. She faces China's Chen Yufei in the first round, who is ranked 13th in the world and has never faced Sindhu before.
Saina faces a tough draw
Saina Nehwal has not progressed beyond the quarterfinals at a Superseries event since her title-winning run at the Australian Open in 2016. Having slipped down the rankings after suffering a knee injury in the latter half of 2016, Saina's biggest test in Malaysia comes in the first round itself. She faces world no. 2 Akane Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi has been supremely consistent since the beginning of 2016. She won the Korea Open Superseries and the Denmark Open Superseries Premier last year and has reached the semifinals in three tournaments this year, going all the way to win the German Open last month. If Saina manages to win her first two rounds, a potential clash with He Bingjiao (seeded eighth) - considered to be the next big thing in Chinese badminton - will also be tough.
Full strength men's field
After a depleted field at the Indian Open last week, the Malaysia Open will see a full strength men's draw, with the top ten players in the world rankings taking part. While home-favourite Lee Chong Wei will look to win his 12th title in his home tournament, seventh-seed Lin Dan will eye his first title at the only Superseries event where he has never won.
Indian men look at redemption
With no Indian man ranked in the top 15 in the world rankings, India's challenge will be led by Ajay Jayaram with B Sai Praneeth. While the women have had a reasonably successful run this year, no Indian man has reached beyond the quarterfinals at the All England or the India Open.
Jayaram will face world no. 23 Qiao Bin in the first round. Jayaram is ranked four places higher in the world rankings but has never played Qiao before. However, Qiao lost to HS Prannoy at the Swiss Open and the All England Open last month. Prannoy targeted Qiao's backhand in those matches and tried to overpower him with his big smashes. Jayaram's game is similar to Prannoy and a similar strategy might see him through. If he gets through unscathed, Jayaram's next opponent could very well be Viktor Axelsen, seeded fourth and fresh off winning the India Open this weekend.
Praneeth, who is ranked 33rd in the world, will face five-time World Champion Lin Dan in the first round. Having never faced Lin before, Praneeth will have to stay patient and not get overwhelmed by the achievements of his opponent. After losing in the semifinals at the All England Open, Lin was in imperious form at the Swiss Open where he did not drop a single game in six matches before claiming the title.