Indian badminton players are gearing up for a challenging start at the USD 475,000 Hylo Open Super 500 tournament in Saarbrücken, Germany, as the main draw kicks off on Tuesday.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist and Hong Kong Open finalist, will take on fifth seed Christo Popov of France. Meanwhile, Ayush Shetty, fresh from his US Open triumph, will face Denmark’s Victor Lai.
Kidambi Srikanth, former world No.1 and Malaysia Masters finalist, will clash with compatriot Kiran George in an all-Indian showdown. Additionally, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian will challenge Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao, while Tharun Mannepalli, a Macau Open semifinalist, will battle second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.
In women’s singles, Anmol Kharb, who reached the Arctic Open semifinals, will compete against Denmark’s Julie Dawall Jakobsen. Rising star Unnati Hooda, winner of the 2022 Odisha Masters and 2023 Abu Dhabi Masters, will go up against Brazil’s Juliana Viana Vieira.
Anupama Upadhyaya will face Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova, and Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj will take on Spain’s Clara Azurmendi. Shriyanshi Valishetty, fresh off her Al Ain Masters Super 100 title, will challenge third seed Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark.
Aakarshi Kashyap will begin her campaign against Turkey’s Neslihan Arin, while Tanya Hemanth will meet fourth seed Lin Hsiang Ti of Chinese Taipei.
In men’s doubles, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K. will face French siblings Christo and Toma Junior Popov. In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will take on Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai.
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