Sindhu, Saina ready to fire in Thailand events

TIL Desk Sports/ Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu has been handed relatively an easy draw but tough outings await Saina Nehwal as the Indian duo returns to international competition in Thailand, nearly 10 months after COVID-19 pandemic halted all tournaments globally.

Sindhu and Saina didn’t participate in Denmark Open Super 750 and SaarLorLux Super 100 — the only two events which could be conducted since BWF was forced to suspend the calendar after the completion of the All England Championships in March.

Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events — Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world’s best return to action following a prolonged break. World champion Sindhu, seeded sixth, will open against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt, while Saina, who has recently recovered from COVID-19, will face formidable Japanese Nozomi Okuhara, seeded third, in the first round.