Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Lakshya Sen and bronze medal winner Kidambi Srikanth will lead India’s challenge and will be top medal hopes at the BWF World Championships 2022 in absence of injured PV Sindhu, who will miss the tournament, starting here on Monday.
BWF World Championships 2022
0__1___ DAY TO GO!#BWC2022 pic.twitter.com/ct6lHlhsGs— Giarc Nibisna ___ (@craigansibin) August 20, 2022
Lakshya, seeded ninth, clinched a bronze medal in the 2021 edition of the tournament in Huelva. He had entered the championship unseeded but went on to cause major upsets, including the victory over Tokyo Olympics semi-finalist Kevin Cordon. The 21-year-old Indian lost to compatriot Kidambi Srikanth in the semifinal and settled for bronze.
India will also expect 12th seed Kidambi Srikanth, who won silver in 2021, to fire on all cylinders. He was the first Indian man to reach the finals of the BWF World Championships and return with a silver medal, losing to Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in straight sets in the final last time around. Apart from Srikanth and Lakshya, B Sai Praneeth, the bronze medallist of the 2019 edition and HS Prannoy are also capable of springing a surprise.
However, the Indian men will have to pass through World No 1 and top seed Viktor Axelsen for a podium finish. The All England Open champion has been on a 31-match winning streak. Defending champion Yew (seeded eighth), Anders Antonsen (third seed) of Denmark, and Lee Zii Jia (fifth seed) of Malaysia will also make the competition challenging. In the doubles category, India will have high hopes from CWG 2022 gold medalists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
In the women’s singles section, both Sindhu and Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara will miss the action due to stress fractures.
World No. 33 Saina Nehwal, unseeded this time, will be looking to return to form at the Tokyo event. The former World No. 1 will try to gain the upper hand in the absence of Okuhara and Sindhu. She will face Cheung Ngan Yi in the first round, against whom she has a 3-1 head-to-head record. The 32-year-old Saina has two World Championship medals — a silver in the 2015 edition, followed by a bronze in 2017.
Top seed and reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan is the frontrunner for the title among the women, followed by Tai Tzu-Ying (second seed) of Taiwan and Chen Yufei (fourth seed) of China, who will return to the championship after a one -year gap. Notably, India have won 12 medals at the World Badminton Championships, but the only gold came in 2019 through Sindhu. India, with 26 players, are third in terms of player representation at the world meet behind Japan (32) and Malaysia (27).
Live Streaming Details
What time will the BWF World Championships 2022 begin?
The BWF World Championships 2022 will begin at 7:30 am IST on August 22.
Which TV channels will broadcast the BWF World Championships 2022?
The BWF World Championships 2022 will be telecast on DD Sports & Sports18 channel in India.
How do I watch the live streaming of BWF World Championships 2022?
The BWF World Championships 2022 will be streamed live on the VOOT Select app and website.
Schedule
Round of 64 – August 22, 23
Round of 32 – August 23, 24
Round of 16 – August 25
Quarter-finals – August 26
Semi-finals – August 27
Final – August 28
Draws
Men’s Singles (Round of 64)
Sai Praneeth vs Chou Tien-Chen
Kidambi Srikanth vs Nhat Nguyen
Lakshya Sen vs Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus
HS Prannoy vs Luka Wraber
Women’s Singles (Round of 64)
Malvika Bansod vs Line Christophersen
Saina Nehwal vs Cheung Ngan Yi
Men’s Doubles (Round of 64)
MR Arjun / Dhruv Kapila vs Supak Jomkoh / Kittinupong Kedren
Manu Attri / B Sumeeth Reddy vs Hiroki Okamura / Masayuki Onodera
Krishna Prasad Garaga / Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala vs Fabien Delrue / William Villeger Second Round
Round of 32
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty vs TBD (Solis Jonathan / Anibal Marroquin or Jonathan Curtin / Dylan Soedjasa)
Women’s Singles (Round of 64)
Pooja Dandu / Sanjana Santosh vs Ines Lucia Castillo Salzar / Paula La Torre Legal
Ashwini Ponnappa / Sikki Reddy vs Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq / Fahimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq
Treesa Jolly / Gayathri Gopichand vs Low Yeen Yuan / Valeree Siow
Mixed Doubles (Round of 64)
Venkat Gaurav Prasad / Juhi Dewangan vs Gregory Mairs / Jenny Moore
Ishaan Bhatnagar / Tanisha Crasto vs Patrick Scheiel / Franziska Volkmann