Indian badminton stalwart Saina Nehwal and her husband Parupalli Kashyap have pulled out of the Indonesian Masters Super 500 Series event. Alongwith the badminton couple,Thomas Cup hero HS Prannoy also decided to withdraw from the tournament starting in Jakarta on 7th of June.
Saina Nehwal has clarified to maintain her workload management and hence she has decided to move away from the tournament. Whereas her husband Kashyap is still regaining his fitness after sustaining a hamstring injury.
‘I had injured my hamstring just before the selection trials and that took seven weeks to heal, then I had an ankle issue,” Kashyap told PTI.
”I am fine now. But I need to get my fitness back. Hope to play a few of the next four events.
”Saina withdrew because there are so many tournaments so she thought it is better if she plays next week and skips this one. She is fine,” Kashyap added.
Indian badminton fans will also not see their star and Thomas Cup hero HS Prannoy in action at the Indonesian Open as he wants to focus more on the next four events on the tour. ‘I will skip this Indonesia event. I will play the next. I am in good shape. Looking forward to the next few weeks,” Prannoy said.
Kidambi Srikanth is another shuttler who will be missed as the former World No.1 withdrew from the event a few days ago. So India’s hopes in the Men’s Singles category will be pinned on India’s young sensation Lakshya Sen. He was very good at the Thomas Cup and will look to carry on that momentum in this tournament. Sen has a tough opening round fixture as he faces Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus, whom he has not beaten yet. Sen has a poor 0-2 record against the Danish shuttler and will be aiming to get his first win in Jakarta.
Also in Saina’s absence, the limelight will be on PV Sindhu in the Women’s Singles as fans will expect big things from the double Olympic medallist. She made an exit in the semifinals of the Thailand Open so now Sindhu will look to go all the way in Indonesia as she wants to get back her best form. She will begin with a clash against Line Christophersen of Denmark.
