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The 2024 Madrid Masters is underway, and the first day of action has already given Indian badminton fans some nail biting matches. Singles players from the nation played their qualifying rounds today, while the doubles duos of Treesa/Gayathri, Arjun/Dhruv, and Krishna/Sai, played their round of 32.
Kicking things off were the men's singles shuttlers, where Sameer Verma took on Alvaro Leal, while Mithun Manjunath and Sankar Muthusmay battled it out amongst themselves. Verma won his match 21-9, 21-12, and Manjunath got the better of Muthusamy after three grueling sets.
Moving on to the final qualifications rounds at the Madrid Masters, Sameer Verma stumbled against Jia Heng Jason Tehh of Singapore, while Mithun made it through to the top 32 after a win over Chinese Taipei's Liao Jhuo-Fu
The only Indian women's singles player in action today at Madrid, Aadya Variyath, lost in her final qualification round. She fell short against Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova 13-21, 19-21.
Onto the the main draw action at the Madrid Masters, Indian fans were in for a heartbreak with the women's doubles match of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand. The two Indians, who have recently been scripting quite the comeback, unexpectedly went down against American’s Annie Xu and Kerry Xu. The Indian shuttlers fought hard, but a lack of rhythm resulted in a scoreline of 18-21, 22-20,18-21 for them.
Quickly extinguishing the sting of this defeat was the duo of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Sai Pratheek. The men's doubles pair locked horns with fourth seeds Dong Adam (Xingyu) and Nyl Yakura and got off to a blazing start to win the first game 21-15.
The second set was pure cinema, with Adam and Yakura giving it all they had and forcing a decider 30-28. However, the third set was an absolute display of dominance from Garaga and Pratheek, as the Indians advanced to the pre-quarters 21-11.
Rounding out the day with another victory for India were eight seeds MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila. The duo beat Italian Job Castillo and Luis Navarro 21-18, 21-17.
2024 Madrid Masters: Full results at the end of day one (Indians Only)
Here is what the Indian scoreboard looked like at the end of the first day at the Madrid Masters:
Men's Singles Qualification Round of 16
Sameer Verma (India) beat Alvaro Leal (Spain) 21-9, 21-13
Mithun Manjunath (India) beat Sankar Muthusmay (India) 15-21, 24-22, 21-18
Men's Singles Qualification Quarterfinals
Mithun Manjunath (India) beat Liao Jhuo-Fu (Chinese Taipei)21-16, 21-12
Jia Heng Jason Teh (Chinese Taipei) beat Sameer Verma (India) 21-10, 21-14
Women's Singles Qualification Quarterfinals
Polina Buhrova (Ukraine) beat Aadya Variyath (India) 21-13, 21-19
Women's Doubles Round of 32
Annie Xu/Kerry Xu (America) beat Treesa Jolly/Gayathri Gopichand (India) 21-18, 20-22, 21-18
Men's Doubles Round of 32
Krishna Prasad Garaga/Sai Pratheek (India) beat Dong Adam (Xingyu)/Nyl Yakura (Canada) 21-15, 28-30, 21-11
MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila (India) beat Job Castillo/Luis Navarro (Italy) 21-18, 21-17
