Kidambi Srikanth out of German Open, Lakshya Sen top Indian contender

Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth has crashed out of the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament, which began with qualifiers on Tuesday. While Srikkanth will be missing in action, last edition’s finalist, Lakshya Sen will be hoping to go the distance this time as he spearheads the Indian challenge. Sen and recently crowned national champion Mithun Manjunath will be the top Indian players. Sen, the current Commonwealth Games gold medallist, had beaten world number one Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals but had lost in the final in the previous edition.

This time the 21-year-old from Almora, seeded sixth, will take on France’s Christo Popov in the opening round and is expected to take on top seed Malaysian Li Zi Jia in the quarters if he can cross the preliminary round.

“I might face Li Zi Jia in the quarterfinals, so looking forward to that. I’ve done everything in my hand to be in the best shape this week, so have a good momentum ahead of the All England,” Sen said. hope to do.”

Manjunath will be brimming with confidence after his maiden national title and will look to maintain his good momentum when he opens against former world champion Loh Kean Yew.

Malavika Bansod and Saina Nehwal are also in the women’s singles draw, while the mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy, who played at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, are also in the fray.

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