Malaysia Masters: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal look to begin 2020 on a high

Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu will look to begin her New Year on a winning note when she kicks off her campaign at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament, beginning in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. 

The 25-year-old has had a roller-coaster year as she made early exits in the rest of the season after becoming the first Indian to win World Badminton Championship. Sindhu had also failed to defend the World Tour Finals crown in December 2019.

Sindhu will now aim to shrug off her recent poor performances and begin her new season on a winning note when she takes on Russia's Evgeniya Kosetskaya in the first round of the tournament. 

Besides Sindhu, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal too will look to make a positive start to her campaign in Malaysia when she squares off with a qualifier at the Axiata Arena. Barring her victories at the Indonesia Masters and National Championship, the London Olympics bronze-medallist too endured a lean patch last year.

In the men's singles event, India's B Sai Praneeth and Parupalli Kashyap will take on Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen and top-ranked Kento Momota of Japan in their respective first rounds. 

H.S. Prannoy, who missed most of the last season owing to health issues, will face Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in his opening men's singles clash of the tournament. 

Kidambi Srikanth, the other Indian in the fray, will also look to begin his campaign on a high note when he faces Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan in the first round.

The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will play against the Malaysian duo of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in the opening round of the men's doubles event. Rankireddy and Shetty had earlier became the first men's pair from the country to clinch a super 500 title at the Thailand Open.

Meanwhile, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will lock horns with Chang Ye Na and Kim Hye Rin of Korea in the first round of the women's doubles event.