Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], May 21 : In the lead-up to the Olympics in Paris, the two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will lead India in the Malaysia Masters tournament, which gets underway on Tuesday.
The former world champion will now concentrate on advancing far in the women's singles draw of the BWF World Tour Super 500 event, having skipped the Uber Cup and Thailand Open. The 28-year-old Sindhu has had difficulty regaining her best since recuperating from a knee injury she had in October of last year.
Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters titles in 2013 and 2016. In the women's singles, she is ranked fifth and will take on Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour, ranked 22nd in the world, on Wednesday.
Having returned from injury at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, this will be the 28-year-old's ninth tournament of the year. Her last title win came in the 2022 Singapore Open.
In the women's singles main draw, junior players Ashmita Chaliha, Unnati Hooda, and Aakarshi Kashyap will compete alongside Sindhu.
HS Prannoy, the winner of the men's singles Malaysia Masters last year, will not be defending his title this time around. Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth have both withdrawn. The 36th-ranked player in the world, Kiran George, will lead the Indian men's singles team in their absence.
The men's doubles BWF world rankings' top two players, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty of India, who won the Thailand Open 2024 last week, will also be absent from this competition.
The lone Indian pair competing in the men's doubles in Malaysia is Krishna Prasad Garaga-Sai Pratheek K.
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