Sydney (Australia): With top stars Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth pulling out, World No. 33 Sameer Verma and No. 45 ranked Mithun Manjunath will be the only Indian players in action in men’s singles section of the Australian Open 2022.
Saina Nehwal has also withdrawn from the year’s last event before the BWF Tour Finals, which starts here on November 15.
The Australian Open is the last stop to punch tickets to the BWF World Tour Finals in December, and several Indian players sent their initial entries. The BWF World Tour Super 300 Australian Open, with a prize fund of USD 180,000, is scheduled to end on November 20.
In men’s singles, Sameer Verma will start off against Nathan Tang of Australia and has a clear path to the quarterfinals where he is likely to face Malaysia’s Commonwealth Games men’s singles silver medallist Tze Yong Ng.
Manjunath will run into former World Champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, the second seed, in the first round.
With Malavika Bansod too pulling out, Anwesha Gowda and Tanya Hemanth are the two Indians in the fray in the women’s singles. Anwesha will start against Pitchaya Elysis Viravong of Australia. Tanya Hemanth will open her campaign against Malaysia’s Goh Jim Wei.
In women’s doubles, Simran Singh and Ritika Thaker of India will take on the Indonesian combination of Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari and Rachel Allessya Rose while Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda will take on the Chinese Taipei combination of Lee Chia Hsin and Teng Chun Hsun in the opening round.
In men’s doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan of Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi have a tough task in the opening round as they face China’s seventh seed Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.
–IANS