Saina starts her title defence at Swiss Open on Tuesday
India ace Saina Nehwal will have to put behind her quarterfinal finish at the All England Championship and gather herself quickly to defend her title at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which starts with the qualifiers at Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: March 12, 2012 06:22 PM IST
India ace Saina Nehwal will have to put behind her quarterfinal finish at the All England Championship and gather herself quickly to defend her title at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which starts with the qualifiers at Basel, Switzerland on Tuesday.
World number four Saina will open her campaign against Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women's singles competition.
The 21-year-old Indian has a 2-1 record against the Japanese. The last time they meet, Saina had defeated her in straight games at the World Superseries Finals in 2011.
National champion P V Sindhu will take on Jie Yao of The Netherlands.
In the men's singles, national champion Sourabh Verma will be up against Hong Kong's Wing Ki Wong, while RMV Gurusaidutt will lock horns with the formidable fourth seed, Jin Chen of China.
Senior shuttler Arvind Bhat will take on Dmytro Zavadsky of Ukraine in his opening match, while world number 25, Ajay Jayaram will meet Ivan Sozonov. World number 29, P Kashyap will face Stanislav Pukhov of Russia in another men's singles match.
Top Indian men's doubles pair of Sanave Thomas and Rupesh Kumar will play the Dutch pair of Ruud Bosch and Koen Ridder, while Commonwealth Games gold medallist combo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will face third-seeded Japanese duo of Shizuka Matsuo and Mami Naito in women's doubles competition.
Jwala and V Diju will be up against the Japanese combo of Shoji Sato and Shizuka Matsuo in their opener in the mixed doubles event.