Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy will hope to upgrade their odds of meeting all requirements for the Dubai Super Series Finals with a decent execution at the USD 700,000 China Open Super series Premier beginning on Tuesday.
Previous World No.1 Saina upstaged Olympic silver-medalist P V Sindhu in the national finals a week ago to guarantee her third title crown.
Strangely, both Saina and Prannoy are positioned eleventh in the Destination Dubai Ranking and are hustling against time to book a compartment at one month from now’s Super Series Final with only two Super Series occasions – China Open and Hong Kong Open – left in the calendar.
The 27-year-old Indian, who secured a bronze decoration at the Glasgow World Championship, will open her battle against USA’s Beiwen Zhang, while Prannoy will confront a qualifier in the opening round.
However, Srikanth, who clinched four titles and reached five finals in this season, will be taking a break this week to nurse a muscle strain.
If the Indian can cross the first two rounds, she might face off against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara, who had beaten her to a coveted gold at the Glasgow world championship in August after a marathon final.