Ayush Shetty to start against Magnus Johannessen at US Open badminton; Dhruv-Tanisha top seeds

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FILE PHOTO: India's Ayush Shetty in action. (BWF/Badminton Photo)

Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila stand a very good chance to pick a title at the US Open which begins on Tuesday at Council Bluffs, Iowa’s Mid America centre. The top-seeded Indian pair, ranked No 17 currently, start against qualifiers in mixed doubles at the Super 300 event, and might face their first big challenge in Chinese Taipei’s Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui in quarters.

However, things can get tricky very early as a bunch of Taiwanese looking to break through, are teeming in the qualifiers.

In men’s singles, India’s brand new No 2, Ayush Shetty starts against Magnus Johannessen. There’s a gulf in the ranking with Shetty at No 34 and the Dane at 86, but Johannesen is coming off a crown at Austrian Open. The 23-year-old however has had a torrid time running into Indians losing to Tharun Mannepalli once and Sankar Muthusamy Subramaniam twice in the recent past.

Shetty is also in a draw quarter filled with Indians and could face Tharun or Priyanshu Rajawat further down the road. Rajawat starts out against a qualifier. Chou Tien Chen is top seed and in Shetty’s half, and the other half has a dark horse in a resurgent Kidambi Srikanth. The World No 50 Indian has a tough opener against Englishman Harry Huang.

R Sathish Kumar who had the last big result among Indians and Sankar Muthusamy Subramaniam are in the other half taking on a qualifier and Liao Jhuo-Fo respectively.

In women’s singles, Anmol Kharb will look to push her rankings up from World No 63, starting against Tereza Svabikova. Line Christophersen, no 34, could be next.

Shriyanshi Valishetty and Tanvi Sharma are also in the main draw and face Polina Buhronova and Vietnamese second seed and the highly rated Thuy Linh Nguyen. Tanvi is ranked 66 against the 27-year-old’s No 23 and gets a good opportunity to take down a biggish name in Round 1. Tanya Hemanth, ranked 80, starts against Amalie Schulz (No 71). Aakarshi Kashyap plays Liang Ting Yu.

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Sudirman Cupper Shruti Mishra paired with Priya Konjengbam are seeded 8th, and would want to atheist make the quarters to take a shot at Taiwanese top seeds Hsu-Lin.

Likewise, in men’s doubles, Ruban Kumar Rethinasabapathi and Hariharan Amsakrunan play Kenneth Neumann and Malik Borakkadi of Germany in Round 1.

National Centre pairing Arsh Mohammad and Dingku Singh Konthoujam start against Taiwanese Chen-Lin.

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