Nagpur, June 4
City's doubles specialist Ritika Thaker and her partner Simran Singhi will take on World no 2. Lee So Hee-Shin Sheug Chan in the women doubles first round of Indonesia Masters 2022 Badminton Championship beginning on June 7.
Talking to Lokmat Times ahead of their departure, Ritika said, “ We both will get good experience in the big tournament like Indonesia Masters. Although we will play our first round against World no 2. there is no pressure on us. We will try to deliver our best in the tournament. It will be a good learning experience”.
It can be mentioned here that apart from Ritika and Simran, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy will be in action after they missed out the Uber Cup and Thailand Open as Sikki suffered an injury. The unseeded pair will face Brazil’s Lima sisters in the first round. In the second round, they are likely to set up clash with China’s top seeded pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan.Simran Singhi and Rithika Thaker are India’s second women’s doubles partners. Both Ritika and Simran were the part of Indian team for the prestigious Uber Cup. However women's team was knocked out of the tournament early. But looking at the progress of the men's team the BAI ensured all members of the women's team to remain present to witness the historic win.
The big moment came for Ritika when prime minister Narendra Modi met the members of Indian men's and women's team members at his residence in Delhi. Ritika was thrilled after meeting the prime minister for tea and shaking hands with him.