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Li, Srikanth still fighting for Dubai berths

 After the China Open last week, the penultimate round of the 12-event qualifying phase for the Dubai World Superseries Finals from December 9-13, high performers Li Xuerui and Kidambi Srikanth are still unsure about their places for the year-end showdown.
It's just the Hong Kong Open that remains as a last minute chance for both players who are in a do-or-die situation and are under enormous pressure to perform well if they are to pack their bags for Dubai in just three weeks' time.
Players have to finish in the top eight in their category at the end of the 12-leg Metlife Superseries, to be in the running to take home a share of the $1 million prize pool when the Dubai World Superseries Finals are played at the Hamdan Sports Complex. And this year there is even more at stake as points accrued in Dubai go towards the 2016 Olympic Games qualification pointscore.
Li's victory in the penultimate tournament, the Thaihot China Open which concluded on Sunday, has pushed her within reach of qualification. With only two players from each country to qualify in each group, Li's biggest hurdle has come not in making it into the top eight, but in overtaking her countrywomen Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan, who currently sit in first and third place respectively, with World Champion Carolina Marin in second. India's popular Saina Nehwal lies in fifth spot after her China Open runner-up spot and her calf injury will keep her out of the final leg in Hong Kong later this month.
Li, who has dominated the game in recent seasons and was year-end world number one in 2012, 2013 and 2014, spending 124 weeks in the top spot, missed last year's Dubai World Superseries finals though injury, and has continued to battle injury for most of 2015. She reached the finals in the Maybank Malaysia open in April, but didn't break through for her first Superseries title of the year until the Denmark Open in October. After falling in the quarterfinals in the next event, the French Open, Li again stood atop the podium in China, both wins rocketing her from 11th to fourth place in the Destination Dubai rankings.
India's top male player Srikanth is also poised to qualify thanks to the rule restricting the number of players from one country to two. With Chen Long leading the standings and Lin Dan in a comfortable fifth place, China's Tian Houwei, currently in 7th, is set to miss out.
His exclusion will open the door for Srikanth, who after a brilliant start to the season winning the India Open in March, has struggled to make it past the early rounds in each event and currently sits in 9th. Srikanth however will have to produce his best to ensure he wins enough points to hold off Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto, whose appearance in the finals in Denmark pushed him back up into contention.