Orleans Masters 2023: Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap to lead Indian challenge

Paris [France], April 3 : Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap, two of India's top badminton players, will lead the Indian challenge at the Orleans Masters 2023, which will take place in France from April 4 to 9.

As per Olympics.com, PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, and the men's singles competitors Lakshay Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Prannoy will not compete in the BWF Super 300 tournament. Sindhu lost in the Madrid Masters 2023 final on Sunday.

After sitting out the German Open, All England Open, Swiss Open, and Madrid Spain Masters competitions, Saina Nehwal, who last competed in the Indian Open this year, will attempt to refocus. The former world number one, who is presently ranked 31st in badminton, will begin her tournament against a qualifier in the first round.

Nonetheless, Saina Nehwal has a chance to face Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin in the second round.

Meanwhile, men's singles competitor Parupalli Kashyap, who has watched the action from the sidelines this year due to an injury, will make a return to the sport ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics qualification phase, which will start from May 1, 2023 and will go on till April 28, 2024. Parupalli, currently ranked 97th in BWF World Rankings, will start his Orleans Masters campaign from qualifiers against China's Chi Yu Jen.

Parupalli heads into the tournament with an advantage over his Chinese opponent, having defeated the 56-ranked shuttler in Taipei Open last year.

Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap will be taking part in women's singles events. In the men's singles, Sameer Verma and Mithun Manjunath will be in action. B Sai Praneeth will be facing a qualifier in his opening match.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who clinched the Swiss Open men's doubles title last month, are the top seeds in the men's doubles. Currently ranked sixth in the world, the India pair will open their campaign against the Dutch pair of Ruben Jille and Ties van der Lecq.

Orleans Masters Open 2023 badminton: India squad

-Men's singles

Main draw - B Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George

Qualifying - P Kashyap, Priyanshu Rajawat, Meiraba Luwang Maisnam

-Women's singles

Main draw - Saina Nehwal, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod

Qualifying - Tanya Hemanth, Tasnim Mir, Ashmita Chaliha

-Men's doubles

Main draw: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala

-Women's doubles

Main draw - N Sikki Reddy/Arathi Sara Sunil, Ritika Thaker/Simran Singhi

Qualifying - Tsha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa

-Mixed doubles

Qualifying - B Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa, Sai Pratheek K/Tsha Crasto, Rohan Kapoor/N Sikki Reddy.

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