BWF World C’ships draw: Sindhu, Chirag-Satwik get first-round bye; unseeded Srikanth to open against Nishimoto

Kuala Lumpur: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu and star men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been awarded a first-round bye as the draw for the BWF World Championships was announced on Thursday.

The draw ceremony for the 28th edition of the World Championships, scheduled to be held between August 21 to 27 in Copenhagen, Denmark, was held at the Badminton World Federation headquarters in the Malaysian capital.

Former world champion Sindhu has been seeded 16th in the women’s singles draw. The five-time medallist will begin her campaign in the second round where she will be taking on either Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen or familiar foe Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara.

Notably, Okuhara beat Sindhu in the 2017 world badminton championships final but the Indian ace emerged on top in the 2019 final at Basel.

In the men’s doubles, second seeds and bronze medallists of the previous edition, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will begin against either Ireland’s Joshua Magee and Paul Reynolds or Australians Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Ming Chuen Lim in the second round.

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Indian shuttlers received favourable draws. India’s top-ranked HS Prannoy, seeded ninth, will open his campaign against world no. 56 Kalle Koljonen of Finland. Bronze medallist from the 2021 edition, 11th seed Lakshya Sen, will open against world No. 110 Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius.

The 2021 finalist Kidambi Srikanth, 20th in the badminton world rankings, was unseeded in the draw and will face a much tougher opponent in the form of Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, who is ranked 15th in the world.

In women’s doubles, 15th seeds Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, also awarded a bye in the first round, will face either Chinese Taipei’s Chang Ching Hui and Yang Chin Tun or Estonia’s Kati-Kreet Marran and Helina Ruutel in second round.

In the mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and N. Sikki Reddy will be up against Scottish duo Adam Hall and Julie MacPherson in their opening round clash.

–IANS