Saina seeded third for India Open

On a high after her Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold triumph, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded third in the second Indian Open.

New Delhi: On a high after her Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold triumph, Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded third in the second Yonex Sunrise India Open, part of the Osim BWF World Superseries, that will be held at the Siri Fort Auditorium from April 24 to 29.

The world number 5, who is considered to be India`s best bet in the London Olympics later this year, is flanked by the all-conquering Chinese contingent comprising world number three Shixian Wang (Seeded 1st), Li Xuerui (Seeded 2nd) and Yanjiao Wang (Seeded 4th) in the USD 200,000 tournament, t6he organisers said in a release. Saina had thrashed Shixian in the final of the Swiss Open a few weeks ago. Two-time All England champion Tine Baun of Denmark completes the top five in the last tournament of the London Olympics qualification period. In the men`s section, world number one and defending champion Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia has been given the top billing with Denmark`s Peter Gade and former world champion Jin Chen of China seeded second and third respectively. With the men`s singles field being one of the best in the world, last edition`s quarterfinalist Sourabh Verma will have to qualify for the event and has been seeded second in the draw. Former national champion RMV Guru Sai Dutt, ranked 41 in the world, will be leading the pack of qualifiers. Seedings list: Men`s singles: 1-Lee Chong Wei (MAS), 2-Peter Gade (DEN), 3-Jin Chen (CHN); 4-Sho Sasaki (JPN), 5-Hyun ll Lee (KOR), 6-Kenichi Tago (JPN), 8-Simon Santoso (INA), 8-Taufik Hidayat (INA). Women`s singles: 1-Shixian Wang (CHN), 2-Li Xuerui (CHN), 3-Saina Nehwal (IND), 4-Yanjiao Wang (CHN), 5-Tine Baun (DEN), 6-Juliane Schenk (GER), 7-Inthanon Ratchanok (THA), 8-Sung Ji Hyun (KOR). Men`s doubles: 1-Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae (KOR), 2-Yoo Yeon Seong/Ko Sung Hyun (KOR), 3-Zhendong Guo/Biao Chai (CHN), 4-Bona Septano/Mohammad Ahsan (INA), 5-Noriyasu Hirata/Hirokatsu Hashimoto (JPN), 6-Kien Keat Koo/Boon Heong Tan (MAS), 7-Shoji Sato/Naoki Kawamae (JPN), 8-Hendra Aprida Gunawan/Alvent Yulianto Chandra (INA). Women`s doubles: 1-Kim Min Jung/Ha Jung Eun (KOR), 2-Mizuki Fujii/Reika Kakiiwa (JPN), +3-Satoko Suetsuna/Miyuki Maeda (JPN), 4-Shizuka Matsuo/Mami Naito (JPN), 5-Greysia Polii/Meiliana Jauhari (INA), 6-Kim Ha Na/Jung Kyung Eun (KOR), 7-Ying Suet Tse/Lok Yan Poon (HKG), 8-Shinta Mulia Sari/Lei Yao (SIN). Mixed Doubles: 1-Chen Xu/Jin Ma (CHN), 2-Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (INA), 3-Lee Yong Dae/Ha Jung Eun (KOR), 4-Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh (MAS), 5-Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam (THA), 6-Chris Adcock/Imogen Bankier (ENG/SCO), 7-Shintaro Ikeda/Reiko Shiota (JPN), 8-Alexandr Nikolaenko/Valeri Sorokina (RUS). PTI