Macau Open: Big stars continue to be absent, Kidambi Srikanth back on court

The Macau Open 300 promises to be a big tournament for Indian shuttlers, especially former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who would be making a comeback to the court after playing in the Singapore Open in May. The tournament that begins on September 24, will see Srikanth take on Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko in the first round.

Meanwhile, after missing out on a Paris Olympics berth, Srikanth will be seen in action for the first time. But one must mention, that the former World Championships silver medalist had endured poor run of form in 2024, where he failed to make it beyond Round of 16, in at least 9 tournaments. In fact, he only shone in the Swiss Open this year, where he reached the final.

Malvika Bansod Pulls Out of Macau Open

On the other hand, women’s singles shuttler Malvika Bansod, who managed to reach the quarters of China Open last week, has pulled out of the tournament. The men’s doubles team of Satwik-Chirag continue to be absent from the roster after they returned without a medal from Paris 2024.

But, the women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and gayatri Gopichand will be there and will play the Japanese pair of Akari Sato and Maya Taguchi in the first round of the women’s doubles main draw. Not just that, Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy will be in contention in the mixed doubles category.

Indian Contingent for Macau Open

Men’s singles: Mithun Manjunath, Sameer Verma, Ayush Shetty, Kidambi Srikanth, Sankar Muthusamy, Chirag Sen

Women’s singles: Anupama Upadhyaya, Tanya Hemanth, Tasnim Mir, Devika Sihag, Isharani Baruah

Women’s doubles: Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Apoorva Gahlawat and Sakshi Gahlawat

Mixed doubles: Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani, Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy