Guwahati Masters: Ashwini-Tanisha pair returns to defend title; Rajawat to headline singles event

Defending women's doubles champion pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto along with singles specialist Priyanshu Rajawat will carry the expectations of home fans in the second edition of the Guwahati Masters Super 100 badminton tournament to be held here this week. The qualification round will begin on Tuesday while main draw matches will start from Wednesday.

Ashwini-Tanisha and Rajawat have been given the top billing in their respective events following their win at last week's Syed Modi International Super 300, where the hosts had representation in all five finals and won three of them. Apart from men's singles and women's doubles, the Indian mixed doubles combination of Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath are seeded no 1 while a lot will be expected from men's doubles second seeds Hariharan Aasakarunan and R Ruban Kumar.

A total of 461 players from 20 countries will participate in the tournament. All eyes will also be on the performance of new mixed doubles combination of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha, who recently reached the final of Syed Modi International. In women's singles, Indian challenge will be shouldered by the likes of Unnati Hooda and nationals silver medallist Tanvi Sharma. PTI BS SSC SSC