Saina to lead challenge

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

Second seed Saina faces world number 39 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in her opening match in the women’s singles. Aditi Mutatkar will take on Mingtian Fu of Singapore in the other 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 will play Japanese Koichi Saeki. P Kashyap,seeded 12,will look to recreate his recent form in the Spanish Open and Open Volant d’Or,when he locks horns with Kazuteru Kozai of Japan. 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,top seed Indian pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta will take the challenge of Malaysian duo of Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Pei Tty Wong.