Saina, Kashyap lead Indian challenge at ABC

A rejuvenated Saina Nehwal and ace men's shuttler Parupalli Kashyap will spearhead the Indian challenge at the USD 200,000 Badminton Asia Championship, which gets underway at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium here tomorrow.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who had skipped the Singapore Open Super Series to recharge her batteries after a gruelling month of March, has already sailed to the third round after getting a bye and a walk over in the first two rounds respectively.
The recently-crowned World No. 1, Saina, who played the All England, Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and Malaysia Super Series last month, will fight against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the third round. The girl from Hyderabad has beaten the world no. 10 twice in 2013.

It is going to be a difficult ride for Saina as all the three Chinese -- Li Xuerui, Yihan Wang and Shixian Wang -- are competing at the ABC.
However, Kashyap, who clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold title in January this year, will take the court tomorrow and clash against Singapore's Zi Liang Derek Wong. The Commonwealth Games champion has beaten Wong four times, the last being at the Syed Modi tournament.
World No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth and Indonesian Masters winner HS Prannoy withdrew from the event because of injuries. Prannoy is recovering from a foot injury, while Srikanth is suffering from a shin pain in left leg.

The men's singles will also see defending champion, Lin Dan, a five-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, competing in a field that boosts of current World No. 1 Chen Long, Indonesia's top gun, Tommy Sugiarto, uprising Tanongsak Seambongsuk from Thailand, and Kento Momota and Sho Sasaki from Japan.