Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth pull out of Malaysia Masters 2024: Reports

Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth will reportedly not be a part of the upcoming Malaysia Masters, a Super 500 badminton tournament, scheduled to take place from May 21 to 26 at the Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur. The @BadmintonMedia1 handle on Twitter announced the withdrawals on Tuesday (May 7).

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), however, is yet to officially announce the withdrawal of Sen and Srikanth from the championships.

Sen is currently preparing for the Paris Olympics to be held later this year after qualifying for the quadrennial event. Sen has been in impressive form after he did well in the Thomas Cup. The youngster emerged victorious in three out of four matches. One of those wins came against China’s Li Shifeng, who won the gold medal in the Asian Games that took place in Hangzhou last year.

Ranked No. 11 in the world, Sen won gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Before going to Paris, Lakshya will be looking to make a mark in the remaining tournaments to stay in form. HS Prannoy, India’s top-ranked male shuttler currently, will also be going to Paris along with Lakshya.

As far as Srikanth is concerned, he has not had the best of times over the last few months. Srikanth, a former World No. 1, missed the bus for the Paris Olympics. Last month, the 31-year-old lost to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia 14-21, 13-21 in the Round of 32 at the Badminton Asia Championships.

Other withdrawals from Malaysia Masters

Apart from Lakshya and Srikanth, several other Indian shuttlers would not be a part of the Malaysia Masters. Priyanshu Rajawat, Sameer Verma, and the doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun also pulled out of the tournament.

The focus will be World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen, who will arguably be one of the favorites to win. Eyes will also be on the likes of Jonatan Christie, Anders Anderson and Lee Zii Jia in men's singles.

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