PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be once again gunning for their elusive All England title but legendary Dane Morten Frost wants to bet on Japanese Akane Yamaguchi walking away with the coveted silverware at the blue riband event, next month.
India will look to break a 18-year-old jinx, when Saina and Sindhu take court at next month's Championship. Frost believes that although there won't be any clear favourites but he is read to stick his neck out for the young Japanese woman.
India's last All England champion was current chief national coach Pullela Gopichand in 2001 while the legendary Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to achieve the rare feat in 1980.
"It is total unpredictable in women's singles, anything can happen. In all honesty, you have to accept that Tai Tzu Ying has not really performed when it matters. I'm a great fan of her game you get tears in your eyes when she plays such a beautiful game. But she hasn't won any big title," Frost told reporters.
Frost, an All England 'legend' having played eight finals and won four of them, observed as to why he doesn't consider Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu as a contender while zeroing in on Yamaguchi.
"... and then you have a player like (Akane) Yamaguchi she can beat them all on a good day. She can run them to the ground. When you look at the All England, it's a slow hall, you have to work really hard. It's definitely in favour of a player of the style of Yamaguchi," said the 60-year-old Dane.
"You would never say she would be the favourite to win, especially if you see her performance in last 4-5 tournaments. But to me, if she is well-prepared, she is definitely one of the favourites," he added.
Talking about men's singles, Frost named Kento Momota and Chen Long as two players who are expected to reach last four stage.
"There are some players more favourite than others. Kento Momota is up there, he is playing very consistently, I will be surprised if he is not there in the semi-final.
"I think Chen Long will also be in semi-final. Whether (Viktor) Axelsen can raise his game is a question mark. At the moment, he is not playing so well. Shi Yuqi is very much up and down. Also Ginjing can create an upset, so that's how I see it."
Frost feels India should be proud of producing players such as Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth
"I think Sameer (Verma) is coming nicely, he is 11 or 12 in the world, which is pretty awesome."
"She's got a lot of beautiful shots, she plays a very nifty game. She has got beautiful technique."
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