PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, India’s star shuttlers, will spearhead the Indian contingent at the Arctic Open Super 500 tournament in Vantaa, Finland, starting on Tuesday. The tournament marks their first international outing since the Paris Olympics, where they failed to secure any medals.
Sindhu and Sen are eager to regain their momentum on the international stage. They have reassessed their performances and made changes to their training regimes. Sindhu has appointed Anup Sridhar and Korean legend Lee Syun Il as her new coaches, while Sen has spent time at the Red Bull Arena in Austria for physical assessment.
In the opening round, Sindhu will face familiar rival Michelle Li of Canada, while Sen will compete against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke. Sindhu is favored to overcome Li and could face Japanese sensation Tomako Miyazaki in the next round. For Sen, it’s a chance for revenge against Gemke, who defeated him at the India Open earlier this year.
Kidambi Srikanth, returning to action after a four-month injury layoff, will compete in the qualifiers alongside Kiran George and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran. In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap will also be in contention.
In women’s doubles, Rituparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda will represent India, while Sathish will partner with Aadya Variyath in mixed doubles.
The Indian shuttlers will be looking to make a strong start to their season and build momentum towards the upcoming major tournaments, including the World Championships and the Asian Games.
