World Championships 2017: Tough road for Saina; Sindhu, Srikanth handed easy draws

PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth have been handed easy draws for the 2017 BWF World Championships, starting August 21 in Glasgow.

Eight Indian singles shuttlers will be in action in the week-long premier event. While Srikanth along with Ajay Jayaram, Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma are the country's representatives in the men's singles, Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Rituparna Das and Tanvi Lad will fight it out for women's singles glory.

Can Sindhu go the distance in Glasgow

Sindhu, the highest-seeded Indian shuttler at four, has a smooth road to the quarterfinal of the event, according to the draw released on Wednesday, August 9. Drawn in the second quarter of the first half, Sindhu has been handed a first-round bye.

The world number five will face the winner of the first-round clash between Korea's Kim Hyo Min (41) and world number 80 Hadia Hosny of Egypt in the second round. She is expected to face fifth seed Sun Yu of China in the quarter-final. Notably, Sindhu has beaten Sun three times in their seven career meetings, including the final of last year's China Open.

The 22-year-old could not have asked for a better draw and given her recent form, she should be untroubled at least until the quarter-final stage. The two-time World Championships bronze medallist will be raring to cross the semi-final hurdle in Glasgow.

Early hurdle for Saina

On the other hand, 13th seed Saina has to be at her best if she has to qualify for the final stages of the biennial world event. The 2015 edition silver medallist might face second seed Sung Ji Hyun as early as in the third round.

However, a superior 7-2 head-to-head record over the South Korean will be a big boost to Saina, who is still struggling to get back to her best after knee injury concerns.

Son Wan Ho test for Srikanth

Meanwhile, eighth seed Srikanth will open his campaign against lower-ranked (70) Sergey Sirant of Russia. Drawn in the first quarter, the in-form shuttler is likely to face 14th seed Anders Antonsen early and a possible quarter-final against world number one Son is on the cards.

Srikanth is one of India's biggest hopes in Glasgow. The 24-year-old has been in fine form this season, having won two back-to-back Superseries titles in Indonesia and Australia. The Rio Olympic quarter-finalist also finished as runner-up in Singapore.

Praneeth faces toughest test

Singapore Superseries winner Praneeth, seeded 15th, faces a tricky opening round encounter against world number 44 Wei Nan of Hong Kong.

The 24-year-old might face world number six Chou Tien Chen as early as in the third round and a possible quarter-final test against second seed Viktor Axelsen awaits the shuttler.

Meanwhile, last edition's quarter-finalist Ajay Jayaram has an easy opening round match against Austria's Luka Wraber. However, he is likely to face defending world and Olympic champion Chen Long in the third round.

Sameer Verma, the only unseeded Indian men's singles shuttler, is set for a "trial by fire" against two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in a possible third-round clash.