Saina lead India's charge in Malaysian Open

New Delhi:

Brimming with confidence after her historic Super Series win in Indonesia Open, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal will spearhead Indian challenge in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold, beginning in Johar Bahru on Wednesday.

Second seed Saina, who beat world number three Chinese Lin Chang in the finals of the Indonesian Super Series last week, faces world number 39 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in her opening match in the women's singles category.

Compatriot Aditi Mutatkar will take on Mingtian Fu of Singapore in the other singles match.

Among the men, third seed Chetan Anand will lock horns with Malaysian Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, while ninth seed Aravind Bhat will meet Dane Sune Gavnholt in their respective opening tie.

16th seed Anup Sridhar, who created a flutter defeating world number two Dane Peter Gade to reach the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open, will cross sword with Japanese Koichi Saeki.

Meanwhile, P Kashyap, seeded 12, will look to recreate his recent form in the Spanish Open and Open Volant d'Or, when he lock horns with Kazuteru Kozai of Japan.

Kashyap finished runnersup in Spanish Open and Open Volant d'Or last month.

Budding player Anand Pawar will start his campaign against Malaysian Wei Feng Chong, while Ajay Jayaram will meet another Malaysian Chong Chieh Lok in his first round match.

In the mixed doubles category, number one seed Indian pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta will take the challenge of Malaysian combo Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Pei Tty Wong.