2023 Malaysia Open | PV Sindhu to open campaign against Carolina Marin

01/09/2023

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The Malaysia Open 2023 starts on Tuesday, and ace India shuttler PV Sindhu is all set to make her comeback after a rather long injury layoff. But she faces a tough test right in the first round, as she faces Spain's former world no.1 Carolina Marin, in her comeback match from injury.

The Malaysia Open has been upgraded from a BWF Super 750 to BWF Super 1000 status this year and will kickstart the BWF World Tour 2023 season. Meanwhile, Marin has a 9-6 head-to-head record against Sindhu and had beaten her at the 2016 Olympics final. This will be the 16th meeting between the illustrious duo.

Marin returned to action a couple of months back after a longish injury too and would be looking to get back to her previous best. Also, in the last meeting between the two players, Marin had beaten Sindhu in the Swiss Open finals in straight games.

The other Indians in the fray are London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod, and Aakarshi Kashyap. India’s men’s singles contingent at the Malaysia Open will see India’s two top-ranked players, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy, the battle for a spot in the round of 16. Lakshya Sen, ranked seventh, leads world No. 8 HS Prannoy 3-2 in head-to-head.

Men’s singles: HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth

Women’s singles: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod, Aakarshi Kashyap

Men’s doubles: Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila

Women’s doubles: Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand