Madrid Masters Highlights: Second round action at the Madrid Masters 2023 has come to an end. PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth are the only Indians to clinch victories on the day. Sindhu defeated Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardhini 21-14, 21-16 to enter the quarterfinals at the Madrid Masters 2023. Kidambi Srikanth also clinched a straight game win against Sai Praneeth in the second round on Thursday, 30th March 2023. Meanwhile, Kiran George, Sameer Verma, Aakarshi Kashyap suffered loss in the second round and bowed out of the tournament. Follow Madrid Masters 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Madrid Masters Highlights: PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth enter quarterfinals in Madrid Masters 2023, Aakarshi Kashyap, Sameer Verma, Kiran George lose – Watch Highlights
Men’s Singles
- Kidambi Srikanth BEAT Sai Praneeth – 21-15, 21-12
- Kiran George LOST TO Magnus Johannesen – 17-21, 12-21
- Priyanshu Rajawat LOST TO Toma Junior Popov – 14-21, 15-21
- Sameer Verma LOST TO Kanta Tsuneyama – 15-21, 14-21
Women’s Singles
- PV Sindhu BEAT Putri Kusuma Wardhini – 21-14, 21-16
- Ashmitha Chaliha LOST TO Yeo Jia Min – 15-21, 15-21
- Malvika Bansod LOST TO Carolina Marin – Walkover
- Aakarshi Kashyap LOST TO Natsuki Nidaira – 13-21, 8-21
Men’s Doubles
- MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila LOST TO Shuntaro Mezaki/Haruya Nishida – 16-21, 20-22
Women’s Doubles
- Sikki Reddy/Arathi Sunil LOST TO Rui Hirokamu/Yuna Kato – 12-21, 13-21
Kidambi Srikanth vs Sai Praneeth
Kidambi Srikanth has reached his first quarterfinal in the BWF Tour this year. The fifth seeded Indian defeated his compatriot Sai Praneeth 21-15, 21-12 in the second round.With the victory, Srikanth has leveleed the head-to-head record between both the players 5-5.
Srikanth started the game on the front foot right from the start. He took an early lead and entered the mid-game interval in the first game with a 11-6 lead. After the break, trailing 8-12, Praneeth fought back with four straight points and levelled the scores 12-12. But an error from Praneeth allowed Srikanth to be in the lead.
Praneeth fought back and took 14-13 lead. Neck-to-neck battle ensued. At 16-15, Srikanth brought forth his attacking game. With three successive smashes, he took 19-15 lead and from then on easily closed out the game 21-15.
In the second game too Srikanth took early lead and entered the interaval with a four-point lead. Errors from Sai Praneeth’s end mounted as Srikanth got nine match points at hand. Leading 20-11, another net-error from Sai Praneeth helped Srikanth win the contest.
Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat crashed out of the men’s singles event after suffering second round defeats. While George went down to Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen 17-21, 12-21 in 31 minutes, Rajat was outplayed 14-21, 15-21 by eight seed Toma Junior Popov of France. Sameer Verma lost his men’s singles Round of 16 match, going down 15-21 14-21 to Japanese second seed Kanta Tsuneyama.
Women’s Singles
Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu got the better of Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia 21-16, 21-14 in a contest that lasted a little over half an hour. It is Sindhu’s first quarter-final entry in 2023.
In the Women’s Singles, Ashmitha Chaliha, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap will also be in action in the second round. Ashmitha Chaliha faces Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the first round. Aakarshi Kashyap will take on Japan’s unseeded Natsuki Nidaira. Malvika Bansod will face a tough challenge from top seed Carolina Marin.
In the doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will face qualifiers Shuntaro Mezaki and Haruya Nishida in the second round. In the Women’s Doubles, Sikki Reddy and Arathi Sunil will set up clash against Japan’s Hirokami-Kato duo.
In men’s doubles, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila lost to Japanese duo of Shuntaro Mezaki and Haruya Nishida 16-21 20-22, while the pairing of Sikki Reddy and Arathi Sara Sunil went down to Japan’s Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato 12-21 13-21.
Madrid Masters LIVE: Kidambi Srikanth faces Sai Praneeth in second round at Madrid Masters 2023, PV Sindhu eyes spot in quarterfinals – Follow LIVE updates
