Two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion PV Sindhu secured a spot in the pre-quarterfinals of the ongoing Madrid Spain Masters badminton tournament after defeating Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in her first round match on Wednesday. Second seeded Sindhu defeated world number 49 Zhang 21-16, 21-12 in 30 minutes to book her round of 16. Sindhu’s next challenge is currently ranked 11th in the world and will be according to Olympics .com number 63 in the world is Huang Yu-Husn from Chinese Taipei.
Ashmita Chaliha, another challenger for India in women’s singles, crashed out in the first round after losing to Ratchanok Intanon 21-13, 21-11 in 28 minutes.
India also had a disappointing start in the men’s singles as Sathish Kumar Karunakaran lost his hard-fought first round match to Jason Teh of Indonesia, the 56th ranked shuttler.
Karunakaran also partnered Aadya Variath in the mixed doubles, in a losing effort against Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Menthari. The Indian duo lost their match 21-18, 21-14.
Following the withdrawal of Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, who spearheaded India’s men’s singles challenge in this tournament, registered a 21-18, 21-15 defeat to Japan’s Koo Takahashi in the first round.
Mithun Manjunath also lost his first round match against Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 21-12, while the mixed doubles duo of BS Reddy-N Sikki Reddy marched into the pre-quarters after a 16-21, 22- 20, 21-14 victory over Chen Zhi Ray and Yang Ching Tun of Chinese Taipei.
The tournament started on March 26 and ends on March 31.
The Madrid Spain Masters 2024 offers players ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will take place from July to August this year. The ranking period for badminton started on May 1, 2023 and ends next month.
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