Following their brilliant outing at the US Open last week, shuttlers Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will try to repeat their performance at the Canada Open Grand Prix when the $50,000 tournament commences here on Tuesday.
Manu and Sumeeth, who lost in the final in New York on Sunday, are seeded fourth here and will take on local pair Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng for a place in the pre-quarter-finals at the Markin MacPhail Centre. They are the only Indian pair in men's doubles.
Women's doubles pairs of Pradnya Gadre and N. Sikki Reddy and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have already entered the last 16. While Pradnya and Sikki entered the pre-quarters because their opponents, Dominican pair Bermary Altagracia Polanco Munoz and Daigenis Saturria have withdrawn, Jwala and Ashwini were given a bye as they are seeded third.
Commonwealth Games champion Ashwini and Jwala also had a very good US Open as they reached the penultimate stage of the Grand Prix Gold tournament and would want to continue their form here.
Meanwhile, in men's singles, Ajay Jayaram, Anand Pawar and B. Sai Praneeth have been seeded ninth, 10th and 11th and will begin their Round of 64 matches against Shih Kuei Chun (Chinese Taipei), Alistair Casey (Scotland) and a qualifier respectively.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and the Verma brothers -- Sourabh and Sameer -- also feature in the draw and are expected to ease past the first round.
Mumbai's Tanvi Lad and P.C. Thulasi will take forward India's mantle in women's singles. While Tanvi will take on American Jamie Subandhi in the Round of 32, Thulasi will take on the experienced Yui Hashimoto of Japan.
More From This Section
Tarun Kona and Sikki are the only Indian combine in mixed doubles but face a very difficult Round 1 against German top seeds Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels.
Tuesday will see qualifying rounds while the main draw begins on Wednesday.