January 16, 2023
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy will be up against familiar opponents when they start their YONEX SUNRISE India Open campaign later this week.
The English pairing, who currently sit at a career high of 13th in the BWF world rankings, face Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi of China in the opening round in New Delhi.
It will be the second time in less than a week that the two pairings will have faced off, having played each other in the opening round of the Petronas Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday.
The Chinese duo, who are ranked sixth in the world, were victors on that occasion, prevailing 21-19 24-22 in an incredibly tight contest.
Liu and Ou went on to reach the last eight in Kuala Lumpur, being beaten in their quarter-final clash by seventh seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.
And Rankireddy and Shetty will be the likely second round opponents for whoever prevails this time around, with top seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi potentially looming after that.
Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith are also back in action after an opening round loss in Malaysia a week ago.
Despite an encouraging display on Smith’s return from injury, the pair fell 21-16 21-11 to fifth seeds Jeong Na Eun and Kim Hye Jeong in their first match of 2023.
Birch and Smith will look to bounce back when they take on Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva in their first match in New Delhi.
Ranked 14th in the world, the Stoeva sisters were also competing last week, falling to top seeds and eventual champions Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan in the last eight at the Malaysia Open.
Fifth seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai could await in the next round for whoever prevails, with Jeong and Kim also in the same quarter of the draw.
