IKSAN (South Korea): Star shuttler Kiran George will be the only Indian to take part in the Korea Masters 2024, which kicks off on Tuesday in the Republic of Korea’s Iksan City.
According to Olympics.com, at first, three Indian shuttlers — Kiran George and Ayush Shetty in the men’s singles and Imad Farooqui Samiya in women’s singles — were named in the entry list for the South Korea meet.
However, Shetty pulled himself out of the competition after he made it into the semifinals at the Hylo Open in Germany. On the other hand, Samiya has pulled out of the competition, leaving Kiran George as the solitary Indian in the competition.
The Indian shuttler Kiran George will lock horns against Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang in the opening round of the tournament and can face the Japanese fifth seed Takuma Obayashi in the second round of the Korea Masters 2024.
World champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallist Kunalvut Vitidsarn of Thailand is the top seed in the men’s singles competition at the 2024 Korea Masters.
A quarter-finalist at the Indonesia Masters and Swiss Open from earlier this year, Kiran George has struggled to keep up with his form recently. Since March this year, George has failed to make it past the round of 16 in any of the competitions he has played.
No Indian has ever won a title in any event at the Korea Masters as of now. Last year, Tanya Hemanth was the only Indian badminton player at the Korea Masters but had to exit from the women’s singles event in the opening round.
Earlier in the Arctic Open which took place in Finland’s Vantaa, George progressed from the qualification round but lost to Indonesia’s current Asian champion Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-8. The Indian shuttler had beaten Wang Tzu Wei in the first round. (ANI)