2023 German Open: Lakshya Sen leads Indian test, Kidambi Srikanth pulls out
The former world number one Kidambi Srikanth has withdrawn from the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament, which begins on Tuesday with qualifiers.
Ankush Pandey
Lakshya Sen, who leads the Indian challenge, will hope to go the distance in the tournament. Lakshya Sen will meet Christo Popov, of France, in the first round of the German Open 2023. Kidambi Srikanth has withdrawn from the tournament.
Previous World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth has dropped out of the German Open Super 300 badminton competition, which begins on Tuesday with qualifiers. Lakshya Sen, who leads the Indian challenge, will hope to make it this time despite the absence of Srikanth, a finalist in the previous edition.
The best Indian players will be Sen and Mithun Manjunath, the newly crowned national champion. Sen, the defending gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, defeated the No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in last year's semifinals, but he lost in the final.
Almora's sixth-seeded 21-year-old will face Christo Popov of France in the first round. If he makes it through the first round, he will likely face top-seeded Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen will be accompanied by renowned physiotherapist Heath Matthews on the European tour, which includes the All England Championships and the German Open.
Sen, who represented India at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship (BATC) and won a bronze medal, will compete in three events simultaneously: the German Open (March 7-12), the All England (March 14-19), and the Swiss Open (March 21-26).
"I'm looking forward to facing Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinals. Sen stated, "I hope to get a good momentum ahead of All England because I have done everything in my power to approach this week in the best possible shape."
When he takes on Loh Kean Yew, a former world champion, Manjunath will look to continue the momentum he started with his first national title. Malvika Bansod and Saina Nehwal compete in the women's singles draw, as do Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy, who played in the mixed doubles event at the 2022 CWG.
