Kashyap leads Indian challenge at China Masters

London Olympics quarter-finalist and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Parupalli Kashyap will spearhead a depleted Indian challenge at the Li Ning China Masters, starting in Changzhou on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Kashyap, currently ranked world No 19, is seeded eighth in the tournament and pitted against a yet-to-be-decided qualifier.

The only Indian in the women's singles draw, in the absence of resting Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, is P V Sindhu. She is drawn against the United States' Jamie Subandhi in her opening match.

In the men's singles, R M V Gurusaidutt will square off against Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.

Sourabh Varma is up against Malaysia's Daren Liew.

In the lower half of the draw, Ajay Jayaram and Anand Pawar were handed tough opening matches. While Jayaram will face third seeded Japanese Kenichi Tago, Pawar will fight it out against second-seeded Chinese Jin Chen.

With Jwala Gutta taking a sabbatical, V Diju will not compete in the event, leaving it to Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa to spearhead the Indian mixed doubles challenge.

The eighth seeds meet the Malaysian duo of Jian Guo Ong and Yin Loo Lim.