Star shuttler Kiran George will be the only Indian competing in the Korea Masters 2024, which is set to kick off on Tuesday in Iksan City, Republic of Korea.
Three Indian shuttlers were initially listed in the entry for the South Korea event: Kiran George and Ayush Shetty in men’s singles, and Imad Farooqui Samiya in women’s singles, according to Olympics.com. However, Shetty withdrew after reaching the semi-finals at the Hylo Open in Germany, and Samiya has also opted out, leaving Kiran George as the sole Indian contender in the competition.
Kiran George will face Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Dang in the tournament’s opening round and could potentially meet Japan’s fifth seed, Takuma Obayashi, in the second round of the Korea Masters 2024.
World champion and Paris 2024 Olympics silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand is the top seed in the men’s singles competition at the 2024 Korea Masters.
George, a quarter-finalist at the Indonesia Masters and Swiss Open earlier this year, has struggled to maintain form recently, failing to advance past the round of 16 in any competition since March.
No Indian has won a title in any event at the Korea Masters so far. Last year, Tanya Hemanth was the only Indian participant but exited in the opening round of the women’s singles.
In the Arctic Open, held in Vantaa, Finland, George advanced from the qualification round but was defeated by Indonesia’s current Asian champion, Jonatan Christie, 21-17, 21-8. He had earlier beaten Wang Tzu Wei in the first round.