Spain Masters: Satwik-Chirag eye another title; Sindhu, Srikanth look to regain form

Chirag Shetty (R) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (L).Pic/AFP

Newly-crowned Swiss Open doubles champion Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to continue their consistent run, while singles stars such as PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will hope to regain form at the Madrid Spain Masters which gets underway here on Tuesday.

Satwik and Chirag notched up the first title for India this season when they defeated China's world No. 21 Ren Xiang Yu and Tan Qiang 21-19 24-22 in the summit clash of Swiss Open in Basel on Sunday.

The world number 6 Indian pair, the 2022 world championships bronze medallists, will eye another super 300 title when they begin their campaign against Japan's Ayato Endo and Yuta Takei this week.

While Satwik and Chirag made a mark in Basel last week, the singles stars cut a sorry figure with Sindhu still struggling to find her feet since returning from a long injury layoff and Srikanth unable to find any consistency.

Second seed Sindhu, who has not been able to cross the second round in the last few tournaments in 2023, will begin her campaign against a qualifier and hope to go deep into the draw.

In men's singles, former world number one Srikanth, seeded fifth, will face Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin, while national champion Mithun Manjunath is pitted against Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong.

Also read: Satwiksairaj-Chirag duo reign supreme at Swiss Open, bag men's doubles title

Sameer Verma and B Sai Praneeth too are in the fray and will open their campaigns against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen and Netherland's Mark Caljouw respectively.

In women's singles, Malvika Bansod will take on Denmark's Julie Dawall Jakobsen, while Aakarshi Kashyap will fight it out against Canada's sixth seed Michelle Li and Saina Nehwal takes on third seeded Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Rising men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila will meet Scotland's Christopher Grimley and Matthew Grimley, while Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala will take on a qualifier.

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