Madrid Spain Masters 2024: PV Sindhu cruises into pre-quarters, Kidambi Srikanth bows out

Sindhu defeated Zhang in straight sets.

Two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion PV Sindhu showed her class on the badminton court, securing a place in the ongoing Madrid Spain Masters 2024 in the pre-quarterfinals.

The Madrid Spanish Masters 2024, part of the BWF Super 300 series, gives players vital points to qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. The ranking period began May 1, 2023, and ends next month.

In the first round, Sindhu faced Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang and the second seed Indian shuttler won to make a decisive performance. The match lasted just 30 minutes, as Sindhu defeated Zhang 21-16, 21-12.

Currently ranked 11th in the world, Sindhu’s next challenge awaits in the form of world No. 63 Huang Yu-Hsun from Chinese Taipei.

However, not all Indian shuttlers had a smooth start in the Madrid Spain Masters. Ashmita Chaliha, another contender in the women’s singles category, faced a tough loss to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon with a score of 21-13, 21-11 in just 28 minutes.

In the men’s singles event, Kidambi Srikanth, India’s spearhead in the category, faced an early exit after a 21-18, 21-15 loss to Japan’s Koo Takahashi. Srikanth had a decent run-off form at the Swiss Open, Where the former world no 1 reached the semifinals. Another shuttler Sathish Kumar Karunakaran fought valiantly but fell short in a closely contested first-round match against Indonesia’s Jason Teh, ranked 56th globally.

The mixed doubles category witnessed a disappointing outcome for India. Karunakaran partnered with Aadya Variath, but they couldn’t overcome Indonesia’s Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Menthari, losing their match 21-18, 21-14.

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In another men’s singles match, Mithun Manjunath fell to Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei with a score of 21-11, 21-12.

On a positive note, the mixed doubles duo of B. Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the pre-quarters. They secured a hard-fought victory against Chinese Taipei’s pair, Chen Zhi Ray and Yang Ching Tun, with a thrilling 16-21, 22-20, 21-14 win.

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