SportsBadminton
Sindhu and Lakshya pull out of Korea Open days after Hylo Open double; Sindhu also skips Japan Masters
India's two singles champions from Saarbrücken will not travel to Korea, and Sindhu has also withdrawn from the Japan Masters to manage her workload after a busy run.
Key points
- PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen have withdrawn from the Korea Open.
- Sindhu has also pulled out of the Japan Masters.
- Her break is about managing her physical workload, not an injury.
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen have withdrawn from the Korea Open, two days after the pair won both singles titles at the Hylo Open in Saarbrücken.
Sindhu has also pulled out of the Japan Masters, the next stop on the Asian swing. Her withdrawal is not down to injury. The 31-year-old wants some downtime to manage her physical workload after a demanding few weeks that took her to the French Open final in Paris and then to a title in Germany.
The decision makes sense for a player who has been playing deep into tournaments again. In Paris, Sindhu took the first game against An Se Young before the world number one came back to win the final. A week later she was celebrating in Saarbrücken, joking that “31 is the new 21”.
Lakshya’s withdrawal comes on the back of his own best week of the season. He beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-17, 21-10 in the Hylo Open final, against a player who had won three of their four previous meetings. No reason for his absence from Korea has been given.
Both players will hope the rest pays off later in the season. With India’s top two singles names missing, the Korea Open will be a chance for the next group of Indian shuttlers to show what they can do on the World Tour.