PV Sindhu opens campaign against Hi Bingjiao in Dubai Super Series Finals

Rio Olympic silver medallist shuttler PV Sindhu will begin her campaign against lower ranked Hi Bingjiao of China in the women’s singles event of the season- ending Dubai Super Series Finals starting on Wednesday.

World number three Sindhu has been clubbed along with number two ranked Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Sayako Sato (world number 15), also of Japan, and Bingjiao (world number nine) in Group A.

All the four players will meet each other in a round- robin format.

The other group has world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, Sung Ji Hyun of Korea (world number 5), Ratchanok Intanon (world number 6) of Thailand and Chen Yufei (world number 8) of China.

READ | PV Sindhu looks to end 2017 on a high with Dubai World Super Series Final victory

Olympic gold medallist Carolina Marin of Spain and world champion Nozomi Okuhara have withdrawn from the elite competition.

Sindhu is going into the tournament with a lot of confidence having clinched the India Open Super Series and Korea Open Super Series, besides bagging the silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong Open this season.

Meanwhile, world number four Kidambi Srikanth has been placed in Group B of men’s singles event along with world number one Vicktor Axelsen of Denmark, Chou Tien Chen (world number 7) and Shi Yuqi (world number 8).

READ | Shubhankar Sharma aims to carry Joburg Open form into golf year-ender in Kolkata

Srikanth will be up against Axelsen in first match of the tournament on Wednesday.

Srikanth has also been at the peak of his powers this season as he became the only Indian, and the fourth player ever, to win four Super Series titles in a calendar year.

He won the Indonesia Open, Australia Open, Denmark Open and French Open before he was forced to miss the China Open and Hong Kong Open owing to a thigh muscle strain, which he had sustained at the Nationals in Nagpur last month.