P.V. Sindhu will kickstart her pursuit of a sixth World Championship medal against Sophia Noble of Ireland but the road to the top will be anything but easy for most Indians after a mixed bag at the draw here on Wednesday.

With a 64-player draw for the men’s and women’s singles, there are no byes for the seeded players, unlike the doubles which is a 48-pair event allowing the 16 seeded pairs, including Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty to advance to the second round.

Placed in the top half of the draw, Sindhu is likely to run into China’s Wang Zhi Yi in the pre-quarters, followed by Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia and then a possible semifinal clash with top-ranked An Se Young.

Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, will begin against Collins Valentine Filimon of Austria but the road to the final is peppered with possible tough outings against World No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Christo Popov or Alex Lanier and then Loh Kean Yew or Victor Lai starting from pre-quarterfinals onwards. Ayush Shetty drew the short end of the stick, setting up an opening round clash aganst defending champion and World No. 1 Shi Yu Qi in a repeat of their Asian Championships final.

Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand was cautiously optimistic of India’s chances. “I think it’s great to see the World Championships come back to India after 17 years. And the difference now is that India as a nation, sporting-wise and badminton-wise has grown. We’re looking at many stars who could end up on the podium.

“Having said that, it’s a tough event. We have a couple of tough initial rounds, especially Ayush against Shi Yu Qi. Sindhu has done well in Japan, Unnati has a favourable draw. Overall, happy with the way the draw has has come out,” Goipichand said on the sidelines of the draw.

Doubles coach Kim Tan Her, meanwhile, insisted that the players were all fit but admitted that recurring injuries have been a hurdle to sustained success. “Last year, they (Sat-Chi) had eight semifinals and two finals so the results were quite consistent. Game wise, they are getting better now. Confidence, okay. But what’s bothering them is the injury. That’s bothering me and bothering them also. Especially for Satwik, his shoulder, it’s on and off. Hopefully this time, he can overcome,” Kim hoped.

The World Championships are scheduled at the revamped Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here from August 17-23.