Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth now eye Malaysia crown

KUALA LUMPUR: Newly-crowned India Open champions, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will look to continue their fairytale run as they eye another podium finish at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier which gets underway with the qualifiers here tomorrow.

Left with hardly any time to celebrate their maiden title wins at the India Super Series, Saina and Srikanth had to rush for Malaysia last night itself and the duo will look to recover quickly before starting their campaign on Wednesday in the main draw.

Set to be officially crowned the world no 1 on Thursday, Saina will start her campaign as a third seed against Indonesia's Maria Febe Kusumastuti in the opening round. The girl from Hyderabad is likely to face Thailand's Busanan Ongbumrungpan, ranked 19th, in the second round.

If Saina can produce the same magic which helped her clinch India Open then she is likely to find herself face to face with Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, seeded seventh, in the quarterfinals.

However, the road to the podium will be tougher here as the top Chinese, including Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, will be back in business and ready for the new World No. 1.

"In last three months, I have reached three finals, which means I am learning. I am not taking any tournament easily. Every tournament is difficult and every one will be prepared for me and I will have to be ready everytime," Saina said