Dongguan (China): The Indian badminton team, led by Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, will face three-time champions Korea in a must-win clash at the prestigious Sudirman Cup here on Wednesday. India lost 2-3 to Malaysia in their campaign opener on Monday and another loss will end their chances of making the quarterfinals.
It will be an uphill task for the Indian team as Korea are a formidable side with World No.5 Wan Ho Son and World No. 7 Sung Ji Hyun likely to turn up for the men’s and women’s singles match respectively.
If Srikanth and Saina can earn India wins in singles, it will come down to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa to do the unenviable task of taming the World No.8 pair of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan in the women’s doubles. In women’s singles, Olympic bronze-medallist Saina has a 5-1 record against Hyun but it will not be a cakewalk for the World No.2 from Hyderabad.
