Badminton News: Tricky draw for India shuttlers in All England Open

India's dream of breaking an 18-year-old title jinx at the All England Open Championships got tougher after the country's star shuttlers, including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, were handed a tricky draw in the World Tour Super 1000 tournament starting March 6. Sindhu will open her campaign against South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun, who had defeated her at the Hong Kong Open last year. If she gets past her opener, the 23-year-old is likely to face third seed Chen Yufei in the quarter-finals. While former world number one Saina will take on Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour in the first round. Saina is expected to face world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals. In men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth will take on Frenchman Brice Leverdez in the opening round. He is likely to meet world No. 1 Kento Momota in the quarterfinals. Sameer Verma, will start his campaign against former world number one and 2017 champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. B Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy, meanwhile, have been paired against each other in the opening round, with the winner likely to take on Indonesia's Anthony Ginting.