DUBAI // Winner of the Most Improved Player award at Monday night’s Players’ Gala, India’s PV Sindhu will be hoping to end a memorable year on a high as she makes her debut in Dubai World Superseries Finals.
Sindhu, winner of the women’s singles silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, qualified for the lucrative $1 million (Dh3.67 million) season-ending Dubai Finals with a late surge into the top eight of the Superseries rankings, winning the prestigious China Open last month before reaching the final in Hong Kong in the following week.
• More: Draw features Rio Olympics rematch between Marin and Sindhu
On a hot streak coming to Dubai, Sindhu, however, has been drawn in the same group as the woman who beat her in the Rio Olympic final, Spaniard Carolina Marin. Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, the No 2 seed, is also in her group, as is China’s Sun Yu.
Sindhu knows she will have to be at her best if she hopes to advance from her group and reach a third consecutive final.
“I didn’t expect to get this award, so I’m excited and happy,” said Sindhu, who will meet Yamaguchi in her opening match on Wednesday and Sun Yu on Thursday before the highly anticipated rematch with Marin on Friday.
“It’s good to be here in Dubai. It’s my first time at the Dubai World Superseries Finals. My draw is tough, I’m with Carolina, Yamaguchi and Sun Yu. So, I have to play well from the start.”
Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei won the Male Player of the Year Award. The Japanese pair of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi shared the Female Player of the Year award, thanks to their Olympic gold medal and four Superseries titles.
“We’re extremely pleased,” said Matsutomo. “This year has been great for us. There were two memorable victories — the All England and the Olympics. We had an amazing year, and finishing the year with this award is unforgettable.”
China’s rising star Chen Qingchen won the Eddy Choong Award for Most Promising Player of the Year ahead of Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei and her Chinese compatriots He Bingjiao, Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen.
In the para-badminton category, Lucas Mazur of France and Switzerland’s Karin Suter-Erath won the Best Player of the Year awards in the male and female categories, respectively.
The Rio Olympic gold medal winners in all the five categories were also honoured on the night, receiving a golden shuttle.
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