Asian Badminton Championship: No Tai Tzu Ying threat for Saina, Sindhu

If Sindhu wins the first round she will face either Ji Hyun Sung of Korea or Chinese youngster Cai Yanyan.

Hyderabad: The World Number shuttler Tai Tzu Ying and the defending champion at the last two editions of Asian Badminton Championship have withdrawn from ABC, which will kick-start next week.

The chances of winning the Asian Champions have increased for Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu with bitter nemesis Tai Tzu Ying removing herself from the competition.

With Ying's absence, Japan's Nozomi Okuhara, who recently defeated Saina Nehwal in quarterfinals and PV Sindhu in semifinals of Singapore Open, is the top-seeded player.

It is the best opportunity for Indian shutter to end India's Asia Championship drought.

Olympic silver medalist and fourth-seeded PV Sindhu will start her campaign against Japan's Sayaka Takahashi in the first round while former World Number one Saina Nehwal will take on Han Yue of China. Nehwal lost to Han last year in Syed Modi championships.

Nozomi Okuhara

If Sindhu wins the first round she will face either Ji Hyun Sung of Korea or Chinese youngster Cai Yanyan. Sindhu has been struggling against Ji Hyun.In men's single, former world number one Kidambi Srikanth is expected to advance to the next stage of the tournament, where he might face Chen Long. Sameer Verma will face Kazumasa Sakai of Japan in his first game.