India's premier shuttler P V Sindhu might have to upstage defending champion and familiar foe Nozomi Okuhara as the two finalists of the previous edition are drawn to meet in the quarterfinals of the World Championship, to be held from July 30 to August 5 in Nanjing, China. Memories of Sindhu and Okuhara battling in one of the greatest matches of all time during the summit clash in Glasgow last year is still fresh in the minds of badminton aficionados. Okuhara, who was bothered by a knee injury in the latter half of last season, outplayed Sindhu last week in the finals of Thailand Open and the Indian will have her task cut out as she is expected to meet the world no 8 again in the quarterfinals in Nangjing. According to the draw announced today, Sindhu is likely to meet Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the third round.

The Indian has received a bye in the opening round, while she will face either Indonesia's Fitriani Fitriani or Linda Zetchiri in the second round. Two-time Commonwealth Games champion Saina Nehwal, who won a silver in 2015 edition and a bronze at Glasgow, will have to battle past 2013 champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand and Olympic champion Carolina Marin, whom she is expected to meet in the third round and quarters respectively. The London Olympics bronze medallist will play either Swiss Sabrina Jaquet or Turkish Aliye Demirbag in the second round after getting a bye in the opening round. In the men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth, who clinched four titles last season and a silver at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games this year, will open against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen and is likely to meet Indonesia's Jonatan Christie, 13th seed, in round 3. If he can surpass the hurdles, a meeting with three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia is also a possibility.