The YONEX Italian International gets underway this Thursday in Milan and will continue until Sunday. Pablo Abian revealed his ambitions for the tournament to Badminton Europe.
In the Men's Singles, Ygor Coelho from Brazil is the top-seed and faces Jan Louda from Czech Republic in the first round of the Italian International. Pablo Abian, who is seeded number three, is the defending champion in Men's Singles.
- I feel ready to do my best at the Italian International. I want to defend my title, but the most important though, is to play match by match and to do the best possible result, he said.
The Spaniard has to try hard on his road to the podium, hoping to meet a familiar opponent again: the number-seven-seed, Kevin Cordon from Guatemala. Their thrilling match back in 2011 for the World Championships in the Round of 16 is still unforgettable.
Women's Singles: everything is possible
In the Women's Singles, Beatriz Corrales from Spain is seeded as number one and meets Gayle Mahulette from the Netherlands in the first round.
The World Junior Championships runner-up, Line Christophersen, is back to the tournaments, after a great performance in Canada last month. The young Dane is facing the experienced player, Maria Ulitina from Ukraine in the first round.
Russia appears to be very strong in the Mixed Doubles, due to all the stars who are participating in the tournament in Milan.
Russia and Denmark have strong ambitions in Doubles
The number-one-seeds, Evgenij Dremin and Evgenia Dimova from Russia, are playing their first round's match against Matthew Grimley and Ciara Torrance from Scotland.
At the other side of the draw, the number-two-seeds, Mikkel Mikkelsen and Mai Sorrow from Denmark, want to move one step forward from last year's semi-finals at the same competition.
In the Women's Doubles, the number-one-seeds, Ekaterina Bolotova and Alina Davletova from Russia, are ready to confirm the odds by bringing the gold medal back to Russia.
Lastly, in the Men's Doubles, Mathias Bay-Smidt and Lasse Mølhede from Denmark, as well as Vitalij Durkin and Nikolai Ukk from Russia are ready to go through the final day of the tournament.
See the draw for the Italian International here