All eyes on PV Sindhu to end finals jinx'

Nanjing (China): P.V. Sindhu will look to break the jinx of losing major finals when she spearheads India’s challenge at the World Championship from Monday.

With two bronze medals in 2013 and 2014 and a silver last year, Sindhu has an impressive record at the tournament.

Her epic final against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at Glasgow last year stretched for 110 minutes.

The 23-year-old from Hyderabad has had six final appearances last year, out of which she won India Open, Korea Open and Syed Modi International but she lost at Worlds, Dubai Super Series and Hong Kong.

This season too Sindhu entered the finals at India Open, Commonwealth Games and Thailand Open but a title has eluded her. The Indian is likely to meet Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun in the third round, crossing which will probably put her face-to-face with defending champ Nozomi Okuhara in the quarters.

“I really want to do well in the World Championship. I have been preparing well. It is going to be a tough draw, so I can’t relax,” said Sindhu, who will play Indonesia’s Fitriani in her first game.

“I know everyone is talking about Nozomi and my match but before that there is Sung Ji Hyun, who is not an easy player. So that round would be equally important.”

Saina Nehwal opens her campaign against either Swiss Sabrina Jaquet or Turkish Aliye Demirbag.

In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth opens against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. He is likely to meet Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, 13th seed, in round 3.

H.S. Prannoy will begin against Australia’s Abhinav Manota.