Badminton News: Rising Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen will spearhead the Indian team in the German Open 2023 Super 300 badminton tournament which kicks off with qualifying on Tuesday.
Former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth who finished second in the last edition has decided to withdraw from the event and will focus next week on All England 2023.
Lakshya Sen and new national champion Mithun Manjunath will be India’s top players competing in Mulheim.
Sen, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist, beat world number one Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals, before losing in the final last edition.
This time, the 21-year-old sixth-seeded Almora will meet France’s Christo Popov in the first round and is expected to face Malaysian seed Lee Zii Jia in the quarter-finals, if he can get past the early rounds.
“I could face Lee Zii Jia in the quarter-finals, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve done everything to go into this week in the best possible shape, so I hope to have good momentum all over England. “, said the senator.
Manjunath will be brimming with confidence after his first national championship crown and will look to build on that momentum when he opens against former world champion Loh Kean Yew.
Malvika Bansod and Saina Nehwal are also in the women’s singles draw, while mixed doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy who played at CWG 2022 are also in contention.
Tags: Lakshya Sen, kidambi srikanth, German Open 2023
