Badminton

PV Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medalist and former world champion, has advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Madrid Spain Masters badminton tournament. In her first-round match on Wednesday, Sindhu defeated Canada's Wen Yu Zhang 21-16, 21-12, in 30 minutes. The second-seeded Sindhu, currently ranked 11th in the world, will face world No. 63 Huang Yu-Husn of Chinese Taipei in the round of 16.However, India's other challenger in the women's singles, Ashmita Chaliha, crashed out in the first round, losing to Ratchanok Intanon 21-13, 21-11 in 28 minutes. India also had a disappointing start in the men's singles event, with Sathish Kumar Karunakaran losing his closely fought first-round match to Jason Teh of Indonesia, the 56th-ranked shuttler.Karunakaran also teamed up with Aadya Variath in mixed doubles competition, but they lost to Indonesia's Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Menthari 21-18, 21-14. Following Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen's withdrawal, Kidambi Srikanth, who was the spearhead of India's men's singles challenge in this tournament, registered a 21-18, 21-15 loss to Japan's Koo Takahashi in the first round.Mithun Manjunath also lost his first-round game against Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 21-12. However, the mixed doubles duo of BS Reddy-N Sikki Reddy marched into pre-quarters following a 16-21, 22-20, 21-14 win over Chinese Taipei's Chen Zhi Ray and Yang Ching Tun.The Madrid Spain Masters 2024 offers players ranking points for the Paris 2024 Olympics, taking place from July-August this year. The ranking period for badminton began on May 1, 2023, and will end next month.

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and ace men's shuttler Kidambi Srikanth will embark on their European campaign at the Madrid Spain Masters tournament, commencing on Tuesday. Sindhu, seeded second, will face Wen Yu Zhang of Canada in the round of 32, while seventh seed Srikanth will take on a qualifier.Sindhu, who finished as runner-up in the previous edition, will be eager to make amends after her heartbreaking loss to Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. Srikanth, who reached the semifinals of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament before bowing out to Chinese Taipei's Lin Chun-Yi, will aim to make an impact after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics.Joining Srikanth in the tournament will be Kiran George and Sathish Karunakaran. Among other Indians in the fray, Ashmita Chaliha will face fourth-seeded and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, while Malvika Bansod will clash with Iris Wang of the United States.Lakshya Sen, who reached the semifinals of the All England Championships this year, has withdrawn from the tournament. The fifth seed was scheduled to face world No. 39 Takuma Obayashi of Japan.In women's doubles, fifth seeds Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will lead the Indian charge. The duo will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing quarterfinal loss in the Swiss Open. Third-seeded Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will also compete, while Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam complete the Indian contingent.In men's doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek will open against fourth-seeded Canadians Dong Adam and Yakura Nyl, while eighth seeds M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will take on the Mexican duo of Job Castillo and Luis Armando Montoya Navarro.