HYDERABAD: After a forgetful 2024, Indian shuttlers will be keen to start on a winning note at the Malaysia Open BWF Super 1000 tournament in Kuala Lumpur beginning Tuesday. For the first time since 2009, the Indian shuttlers had nothing to show in an Olympic year. Though Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty held the No.1 ranking for a few weeks and won a few titles, they failed at the All England and Super 1000 tournaments.
Now reunited with their first coach Kim Tan Her, the duo will focus on good returns this year. Last year they lost in the final of the Malaysia Open.
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Kim, who has been working with the pair for the last few weeks, said that the focus is to rectify flaws and target events like the All England and World Championships.
"We are working on a few things. Our target is to win big tournaments like All England, World Championships and other important titles," Kim said. The world No. 9 pair will face Tang Kai Wei and Ming Che Lu of Chinese Taipei, who are ranked No. 43 in the world.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat will lead the Indian challenge. Lakshya is expected to run into Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the second round. Prannoy will open against Brian Yang of Canada and may play Priyanshu Rajawat next if Priyanshu manages to overcome Li Shi Feng of China.
With PV Sindhu taking a break, Malvika Bansod, Anupama Upadyaya and Aakarshi Kashyap feature in the women’s singles.
Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand, who had an impressive outing at BWF Tour Finals and won the Syed Modi title, will take on Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai of Thailand in the first round. Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto and Rutuparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda are in the bottom half of the draw.
