2023 Madrid Masters | Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu to lead India challenge
PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, both Olympic medalists, will head India's campaign in the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 badminton competition, which gets underway on Tuesday. Live streaming of the BWF Super 300 event will be offered.
In the women's singles, PV Sindhu, ranked No. 9 in badminton, is seeded second, behind local favourite and the winner of Rio 2016, Carolina Marin. Sindhu will take on one of the victors of the qualifiers in the first match.
Former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal, currently ranked 32nd, will have a challenging first match against Thailand's third-seeded Busanan Ongbamrungphan, currently rated No. 12. Parupalli Kashyap, Saina Nehwal's husband and a Commonwealth Games gold medalist from 2014, will begin his men's singles campaign in the preliminary round.
In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth, the Thomas Cup champion of India, is seeded fifth. In his opening round, he will face Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin, ranked 32nd in the world. Lakshya Sen, the men's shuttler from India with the No. 9 ranking in the world and the Commonwealth Games winner, have both opted to forgo the competition.
The world No. 6 men's doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will lead India's assault. The second-seeded Indian duo is still on a high after winning the Swiss Open. They will compete against the Japanese team of Ayato Endo and Yuta Takei, ranked No. 41 in the world.
Where to watch
The official YouTube station of the Badminton World Federation, BWF TV, will carry live coverage of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 competitions.
India squad
Men’s singles
Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth, Mithun Manjunath, Sameer Verma
Women’s singles
PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod
Men’s doubles
Krishna Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Panjala, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
Women’s doubles
Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand, Shikha Gautam/Ashwini Bhat K
Mixed doubles
Qualifiers: B Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa