Sindhu, Srikanth lead Indian challenge at World Championship

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu will look to break the jinx of losing major finals and better the colour of her medal when she spearheads the Indian challenge at the prestigious World Championship, starting here tomorrow.

With two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 and a silver last year, Sindhu has an impressive record at the World Championship.

Her epic final against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara at Glasgow last year went down as one of the greatest matches of all time, clocking 110 minutes. The Indian will hope her love affair continues at Nanjing.

The 23-year-old from Hyderabad has been very consistent with six final appearance last year, out of which she won India Open, Korea Open and Syed Modi International but she lost the finals at Worlds, Dubai Super Series and Hong Kong.

This season too Sindhu entered summit clashes at India Open, Commonwealth Games and the Thailand Open but a title has eluded her and she would like to improve her win-loss statistic in major finals.

The Indian is likely to meet Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the third round, crossing which will probably put her face-to-face with defending champion and familiar foe Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals.

"I really want to do well in the World Championship. I have been preparing well. It is going to be a tough draw in the world championship, so I can't relax," said Sindhu, who will play Fitriani in my first game.

"I know everyone is talking about Nozomi and my match but before that there is Sung Ji Hyun, who is not an easy player. So that round would be equally important."