German Open 2023 | Kidambi Srikanth pulls out, Lakshya Sen to lead India challenge
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Former world no.1 shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has pulled out of the German Open 300 tournament which starts on Tuesday. On the other hand, last year's finalist and World Championship bronze medalist, Lakshya Sen will spearhead the Indian challenge in the men's singles category for now.
Apart from Sen, all eyes will be on newly-crowned national champion Mithun Manjunath. Interestingly, this is the same tournament, where Sen had beaten world no.1 Viktor Axelsen in the semis, last year, losing out in the final. The youngster is now slated to face France's Christo Popov in the opening round and then the top seed Malaysian Lee Zii Jia in the quarters.
"I might face Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinals, so looking forward to it. I have done everything in my hand to approach this week in the best shape, so hope to get a good momentum ahead of All England," Sen said.
On the other hand, Manjunath will open his campaign with former world champion Loh Kean Yew. Malvika Bansod and Saina Nehwal are also in the women's singles draw, while the mixed doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy, who had played at the 2022 CWG, are also in the fray.
