Singapore Open 2023 Day 1 Highlights: Srikanth, Priyanshu advances; PV Sindhu, Prannoy, Saina Nehwal, Lakshya Sen out

Hello and welcome to the Khel Now live blog for the Singapore Open 2023 Day 1! Stay tuned for live updates as players fight for the title.

The Asian leg of the BWF World tour shifts to Singapore in the upcoming week. All the top shuttlers will be playing the trade at the BWF 750 tournament (part of the Paris Olympic Games qualification). HS Prannoy will be back in action after winning the Malaysia Masters title a week back. His teammate Lakshya Sen had a good run at the Thailand Open reaching the semi-finals (for the first time this season).

A stern test awaits the Indian shuttlers with HS Prannoy set to battle out against third seed Kodai Naraoka while Lakshya Sen is set to take on fifth seed Chou Tien Chen in the opening round. In the women’s singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is set to battle out against WR 1 and arch-rival Akane Yamaguchi and London Games bronze medallist, Saina Nehwal, will take on Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon. The former WR 1 is coming back to the circuit after a month’s break.

The tournament hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, like the recently, concluded Super 500 competition, will help the shuttlers add crucial points to their Paris Olympics 2024 qualification tallies.

Kunlavut Vitidsarn and An Se Young were the champions in Thailand and will participate in the Singapore Open to further strengthen their positions in the qualifiers’ standings. As things stand, Kunlavut Vitidsarn leads the men’s singles pack, whereas, An Se Young trails Akane Yamaguchi by 100-odd points in women’s singles.