Lakshya, Tanvi lead Indian challenge at US Open Super 300

FULLERTON (USA): Seasoned campaigner Lakshya Sen and rising star Tanvi Sharma will lead India's challenge at the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament beginning here on Tuesday.

India will have a sizeable presence across the singles draws, including former world championships silver-medallist Kidambi Srikanth and a seven-strong women's team.World No. 14 and Paris Olympics semifinalist Sen has been seeded second and drawn to face Belgium's Julien Carraggi in the opening round.

Placed in the opposite half of the draw is top seed and world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who headlines the men's singles field.

Sen enjoys a 5-4 head-to-head record against Chou, having won their last two meetings, and could run into him if he goes all the way.

The Indian will be eager to bounce back after a disappointing first-round exit at the Indonesia Open earlier this month.

Former world championships silver-medallist Srikanth is the other seeded Indian in men's singles.

Seeded fifth, he will open against Chinese Taipei's Liao Jhuo-Fu.

India also have Saneeth Dayanand in the main draw. The unseeded shuttler is set to begin his campaign against fourth seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan.

S. Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian has also made the main draw and will face a qualifier in the round of 32.

In women's singles, India have a strong presence with seven players in the main draw, led by fifth seed Tanvi Sharma and sixth seed Devika Sihag, ranked 32nd and 34th in the world respectively.

Three Indians are placed in the top half of the draw, while four, including Tanvi and Devika, feature in the bottom half.

The 17-year-old Tanvi, who reached the semifinals of the Orleans Masters in March and recently made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open Super 500, will open against Germany's Yvonne Li.

Devika, who has already won two titles this year -- the Thailand Masters Super 300 and the Azerbaijan International in back-to-back tournaments in January-February -- will begin against Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar of Peru.

World No. 51 Anmol Kharb, a quarterfinalist at last week's Macau Open, will take on Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova in the opening round.

Rakshitha Sree S has a tricky path in the top half.

She will first face a qualifier and, if she progresses, Rakhshitha is likely to meet top seed and world No. 13 Michelle Li of Canada in the round of 16.

Shriyanshi Valishetty is the other Indian in the top half and will begin against Canada's Rachel Chan.

In the bottom half, Tanya Hemanth faces a stern opener against third seed and world No. 19 Riko Gunji of Japan, while Aakarshi Kashyap will be up against Chinese Taipei's Tung Ciou-Tong.

In women's doubles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will be India's lone representatives in the main draw.

The pair will open against Spain's Paula Lopez and Lucia Rodriguez.

India will also have a presence in mixed doubles competition through seventh seeds Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K, who begin against Indonesia's Wirawan Ihsan Adam and Serena Kani.

There are no Indians in the men's doubles main draw.