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The mixed doubles duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and N Sikki Reddy bowed out of the Madrid Spain Masters in the semifinals following a loss to Indonesia's Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, ending the Indian challenge at the competition on Saturday.
Sumeeth-Sikki lost to the 17th-ranked team by 21-17, 21-12, in 29 minutes, as per Olympics.com. The remainder of the Indian contingent bowed out much earlier, with PV Sindhu being removed in QFs. Sikki, the 41st ranked mixed doubles player, and Sumeeth, ranked 66th, found themselves on the backfoot in the first game itself, conceeding four points. The Indian badminton players fought back to level the scores at six-all but during the mid-break, they were trailing by three points again. Sumeeth and Sikki took part in a great back-and-forth rally, earning four more points and a 16-15 lead, but the Indonesians took the next few points successively to seal the first game. The second game was level at 8-8 before the Indonesians took eight straight points and sealed the contest easily. In the QF, Sumeeth and Sikki beat the world number 22 Indonesian pair of Lisa Ayu Kusumawati and Rehan Kusharjanto. The Madrid Spain Masters 2024 puts on offer qualifying ranking points to shuttlers for the Paris 2024 Olympics, which will be held in July-August this year. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 last year and will end in April. (ANI)
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