Kiran George, India’s lone participant in Korea Masters, faces Nguyen Hai Dang in the opening round
Star badminton player Kiran George will represent India as the sole participant in the Korea Masters 2024, starting on Tuesday in Iksan City, South Korea.
Olympics.com reported that initially, three Indian players — Kiran George and Ayush Shetty in the men’s singles and Imad Farooqui Samiya in women’s singles — were included in the entry list for the South Korea tournament.
However, Shetty withdrew from the tournament after reaching the semifinals at the Hylo Open in Germany. However, Samiya has withdrawn from the competition, making Kiran George the only Indian left in the tournament.
Kiran George will compete against Nguyen Hai Dang from Vietnam in the first round of the tournament, and may potentially face Japan’s fifth seeded player Takuma Obayashi in the second round of the Korea Masters 2024.
Also read: Malvika Bansod scripts history; enters final of Hylo Open Badminton
World Champion Kunalvut Vitidsarn is the top seed in the men’s singles
Thailand’s world champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallist, Kunalvut Vitidsarn, is the top seed in the men’s singles event at the 2024 Korea Masters.
Kiran George, who reached the quarter-finals at the Indonesia Masters and Swiss Open earlier this year, has been finding it difficult to maintain his recent form. This year, starting in March, George has not been able to advance further than the round of 16 in any competition he participated in.
As of now, no Indian athlete has emerged victorious in any category at the Korea Masters tournament. Tanya Hemanth, the only Indian badminton player at the Korea Masters last year, had to leave the women’s singles event in the first round.
