Malaysia Open 2022, live streaming: Tough draw for PV Sindhu; Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth withdraw
Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap are set to return to the Indian badminton contingent for the BWF Super 750 event. Watch live!
After a disappointing first-round exit from the Indonesia Open earlier this month, PV Sindhu, India’s top-ranked women’s singles badminton player, will look for redemption at the Malaysia Open 2022, which starts on Tuesday.
India’s men’s singles contingent at the BWF Super 750 tournament, meanwhile, has been severely weakened after Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth, the country’s top-two ranked men’s players, withdrew at the eleventh hour.
The Malaysia Open will be held at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur till July 3. The event is returning after almost a three-year hiatus with the 2020 and 2021 editions being cancelled due to COVID-19.
Double Olympic medallist and world No. 7 PV Sindhu, the seventh seed in Malaysia Open, has a tough draw.
The Indian ace is set to face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong, currently 10th in the badminton world rankings, in her opener and may run into old nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, the world No. 2, in the quarter-finals.
Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, who beat PV Sindhu at the Tokyo Olympics semi-finals last year, is a three-time defending Malaysia Open champion.
Besides PV Sindhu, London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal will be the other Indian in the women’s singles draw. The world No. 26 hasn’t competed at a BWF event since the Thailand Open in May and will be eager to make a positive comeback.
India’s top-ranked men’s doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will also be seen back in action after skipping the Indonesia leg of the tour to manage their workload in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games 2022, which starts on July 28.
The duo, seeded eighth at the tournament, last played in India’s famous Thomas Cup win, where India beat Indonesia in the final and Malaysia in the quarters. Chirag-Satwik will square up against local pair Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee.
After world championships medallists Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen withdrew from the tournament, India’s hopes in men’s singles now lie with HS Prannoy, who made the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open in his last outing. Parupalli Kashyap is also slated to make a competitive return after playing the Swiss Open in March.
The first two days of the tournament, July 28 and 29, are reserved for the first-round matches. The Malaysia Open 2022 finals will be played on July 3.
Where to watch Malaysia Open 2022 badminton live in India?
The Malaysia Open 2022 badminton tournament will be telecast live on the Sports18 TV channel in India from the quarter-final stage onwards, which start on July 1.
Live streaming of Malaysia Open 2022 will be available on Voot platform.
Malaysia Open 2022 badminton: India squad
Men’s singles: HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap
Women’s singles: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal
Men’s doubles: Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
Women’s doubles: N Sikki Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa, Srivedya Gurazada(IND)/Ishika Jaiswal (USA), Haritha Manazhiyil Harinarayan/Ashna Roy, Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam
Mixed doubles: Venkat Gaurav Prasad/Juhi Dewangan, B Sumeeth Reddy/ Ashwini Ponnappa