Satvik-Chirag
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who became doubles champions at the Swiss Open, will look to continue their good run at the Madrid Spain Masters starting on Tuesday, while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will also be hoping to return to form.
Satwik and Chirag won India’s first title of the season on Sunday, defeating China’s Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang 21-19 24-22 in the final. Now the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist and world No. 6 Indian pair will be eyeing another Super 300 title when they open their campaign against Japan’s Ayato Endo and Yuta Takei.
The singles stars had a disappointing show in Basel, with Sindhu struggling to make a comeback after a long injury break and Srikanth failing to find his stride. Second seed Sindhu, who has not been able to cross the second round barrier in the last few tournaments in 2023, will open her campaign against a qualifier and will hope to make it as far as the draw.
In the men’s singles, former number one Srikanth, seeded fifth, will face Thailand’s Sithaikom Thammasin in his opening match, while national champion Mithun Manjunath will take on Malaysia’s Ng Jae Yong. In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod will open her campaign against Denmark’s Julie Daval Jacobsen, while Aakarshi Kashyap will take on Michelle Lee of Canada. Saina Nehwal will take on third seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the first round.
Rising men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will take on Scotland’s Christopher Grimley and Matthews Grimley while Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will face a qualifier. Sameer Verma and B Sai Praneeth will face Anhat Nguyen of Ireland and Marc Caljouw of the Netherlands respectively in the first round.
