Saina gets favourable draw, uphill task for men in Indian Open

World number three Saina, who won the Swiss Open last month, will open her campaign against Japanese Ai Goto. The girl from Hyderabad has beaten the Japanese in all their previous three meetings.

Once the first hurdle is cross, Saina is likely to face her new rival Eriko Hirose, seeded fifth, in the quarterfinals in the women's singles.

Hirose had spoilt Saina's All England dream but the 21-year-old was quick to avenge her loss in the Swiss Open and it would be a mouth-watering match if their path cross in the Indian Open.

In absence of world number one Wang Shixian and second ranked Wang Yihan of China, who skipped the event because of their engagement in the Asian Badminton Championships, starting from April 19 in China, Saina starts as the clear favourite in the event, which was given a Superseries status this year.

The only other Indian shuttler in women's singles, Aditi Mutatkar is also in the first half of the draw and will face a difficult customer in fourth seed Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong in her tournament opener.

Among the men, world number 21 P kashyap will be up against Michal Matejka of Slovakia in the first match, while his colleagues RMV Gurusai Dutt and Ajay Jayaram will face the unenviable task of taming fourth seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and top seed Malaysian Lee Chong Wei.

Arvind Bhat, who is currently ranked at Number 44, will face world number 11 Sung Hwan Park of Korea, who recently won the Swiss Open title. Anand Pawar will take on Sho Sasaki of Japan in his first round match.

In women's doubles, Aparna Balan and Prajakta Sawant will take on Jung Kyung and Eun Kim Ha Na of Korea in the first round, while sixth seeds Jwala Gutta and V Diju will be up against another Korean pair of Kim Sa Rang and Jang Ye Na in the mixed doubles.

In men's doubles, eighth seeds Indians Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas have got a bye in the first round.