Madrid Masters 2023 | Priyanshu Rajawat advances to the main draw

03/29/2023

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After two victories on Tuesday in the qualifying round, Priyanshu Rajawat, a member of India's Thomas Cup-winning squad, qualified for the men's singles main draw of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023. World No. 60 overcame France's world No. 53 Alex Lanier and El Salvador's world No. 70 Uriel Canjura.

In the opening round, Alex Lanier defeated Meiraba Luwang Maisnam, ranked 69th in the world, 21-14, 21-18. On Wednesday, Priyanshu Rajawat will compete against Denmark's Victor Svendsen, the world's No. 44 player. MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, a men's doubles team that began their match in the main draw, also made it to the second round.

Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley of Scotland ranked No. 41 in the world in men's doubles, were upset by MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila in the round of 32 by scores of 16-21, 21-17, and 21-12. The world No. 36 badminton team from Chinese Taipei, Chang Ko-Chi and Po Li-Wei will then compete against the Indian team. In contrast, Krishna Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Panjala wasted a promising start and fell to Andreas Sondergaard and Jesper Toft of Denmark in the round of 32, losing 24-22, 19-21, and 19-21.

India's mixed doubles challenge in the qualification round came to an end as both Indian teams, Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy-Ashwini Ponnappa, were unable to advance. B Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Chinese players He Ji Ting and Du Yue 17-21, 21-19, and 13-21, respectively, while Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy fell to Amri Syahnawi and Winny Oktavina Kandow of Indonesia 12-21, 22-20, and 19-21.

N Sikki Reddy and Arathi Sara Sunil, however, advanced to the round of 16 in the women's doubles main round. The Indian team dropped the opening game but rallied to win the match 16-21, 21-18, and 21-11. Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker were eliminated from the women's doubles qualifiers after falling to Clara Graversen and Natasja P Anthonisen of Denmark 21-11, 21-19. Ashwini Bhat K and Shikha Gautam fell to Anne Tran and Margot Lambert with scores of 21-11 and 24-22.

On Wednesday, the best singles players from India, PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, and Kidambi Srikanth, will compete.