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Tanvi Sharma, Kidambi Srikanth lead India’s charge at Korea Masters Super 300. Fresh off Taipei Open victory, Tanvi eyes more glory.
Tanvi Sharma will lead India’s charge at Korea Masters
Fresh off her Taipei Open title win, Tanvi Sharma and a fit Kidambi Srikanth will lead India’s campaign at the Korea Masters Super 300 badminton tournament, as the nation’s brilliant run on the international circuit continues with the event starting on Tuesday.
Seventeen-year-old Tanvi from Punjab capped off a stellar week by beating Vietnam’s sixth seed Thuy Linh Nguyen in the final to win her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Taipei Open on Sunday, August 2.
The landmark win made Tanvi only the second Indian women’s singles shuttler to win the Taipei Open, emulating Saina Nehwal. She became just the fourth Indian woman to claim a BWF Super 300 or higher-level title as well, joining the elite company of Saina, PV Sindhu and Devika Sihag.
The feat has put Tanvi in the spotlight and expectations will be high from the Indian this week as she opens her campaign against a qualifier.
India has six shuttlers in the men’s singles and 10 in the women’s singles main draws of the USD 250,000 event.
In the men’s singles, third seed Kidambi Srikanth, the 2021 World Championships silver medallist, enters the tournament in promising form after finishing runner-up at the US Open.
But Srikanth was forced to pull out of the Canada Open the next week because of a fitness problem.
Now back to full fitness, the former world No. 1 will start his campaign against Israel’s Daniil Dubovenko.
Kiran George has drawn a qualifier in the opening round and could face eighth seed Wang Po-Wei of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinals.
Saneeth Dayanand has a difficult first-round assignment against Japan’s top seed Yudai Okimoto, while Rounak Chouhan will open his campaign against South Korea’s fourth seed Jeon Hyeok Jin.
Tharun Mannepalli starts his campaign against South Korea’s Yoo Tae Bin, while Mithun Manjunath takes on China’s Zhu Xuan Chen in the opening round. If both Srikanth and Mithun win their first-round matches, they will set up an all-Indian showdown in the second round.
In the women’s singles, seventh seed Malvika Bansod has been handed a favourable opening-round draw against a qualifier, while Tanya Hemanth faces a stern test against top seed Hina Akechi of Japan.
Aakarshi Kashyap opens her campaign against South Korea’s Kim Min Ji, while Shriyanshi Valishetty faces Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po. Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj and Ashmita Chaliha, meanwhile, have both drawn qualifiers in the opening round.
Eighth seed Anmol Kharb will start her campaign against Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan Happy, while Mansi Singh faces South Korea’s Kim Joo Eun in the opening round. Fifth seed Isharani Baruah, meanwhile, takes on South Korea’s Lee So Yul.
Among the other Indians, women’s doubles pair Sonali Singh and Ritika Thaker will face a qualifier, while Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra will take on the second-seeded Japanese pair of Ririna Hiramoto and Kokona Ishikawa.
In the men’s doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy will face the fourth-seeded Thai pair of Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn and Worrapol Thongsa-Nga in the opening round.
Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu have been drawn against Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Aaron Tai, while Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu and Pochana Arjun Reddy will start their campaign against the second-seeded pairing of Choi Sol Gyu of South Korea and Goh V Shem of Malaysia.
In the mixed doubles, sixth seeds Ishaan Bhatnagar and Shruti Mishra will face fellow Indians Sathwik Reddy Kanapuram and Radhika Sharma in an all-Indian opening-round clash, guaranteeing India a place in the second round.
Seventh seeds Dhruv Rawat and Maneesha K will open their campaign against Malaysia’s Loo Bing Kun and Noraqilah Maisarah.
(With PTI Inputs)
August 03, 2026, 16:25 IST
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