Malaysian Masters 2019: Saina Reached Semis, Srikanth QF as Japan Wins 2 of 5 titles

Malaysian Masters have been won thrice by Indians when Sindhu won twice (2013 and 2016) and Saina won in 2017. In 2018, Indians had an unforgettable visit. In 2019, Saina and Srikanth Kidambi were ranked 7th in Women’s and Men’s Singles, respectively. Both lost to 4th seeds. Saina lost semifinal to Carolina, who finished Runners up, while Srikanth lost in Quarterfinals to Son Wan Ho, who won the title. Other Indians did not cross Round 2 in Singles and Doubles event. All double events were won by top seeds, while Singles saw 4th and and 6th seeds as winners. As Japan won two titles, Thailand, Korea and Indonesia won a title each, hosts Malaysia, China and Spain, Thailand and Indonesia finished Runners up in one event each.

Winner of Malaysian Masters 2019
WS: 6th seed Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) def 4th seed Carolina Marin (Spain) 21-9 22-20 in 42 minutes
MS: 4th seed Son Wan Ho (Korea) def 3rd seed Chen Long (China) 21-17 21-19 in 55 minutes
WD: Top seed Fukushima / Hirota (Japan) def 4th seed Greysia / Aprtiyani (Indonesia) 18-21 21-16 21-16 in 1 hour 16 minutes
XD: Top seed Watanabe / Arisa (Japan) def Dechapol/Sapsiree (Thailand) 21-18 21-18 in 44 minutes
MD: Top seed Marcus / Kevin (Indonesia) def Yew Sin / Ee Yi (Malaysia) 21-15 21-16 in 36 minutes

Journey of Indians:
Semifinalist: 7th seed Saina Nehwal
SF: lost to Carolina Marin 21-16 21-13 in 40 minutes
QF: Def 2nd seed Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) 21-18 23-21 in 48 minutes
Round 2: Def Pui Yin (Hong Kong) 21-14 21-16 in 39 mnts
Round 1: Def Joy Xuan (Hong Kong) 14-21 21-18 21-18 in 1 hour 5 mnts

Quarterfinalist: 7th seed Srikanth Kidambi
QF: Lost to Son Wan Ho (Korea) 21-23 21-16 21-17 in 1 hour 12 minutes
Round 2: Def Wing Ki Vincent (Hong Kong) 23-21 8-21 21-18 in 1 hour 4 minutes
Round 1: Def NG Ka Long Angus(Hong Kong) 21-17 21-11 in 30 mnts

Other Indians did not cross Round 2 in Singles and Doubles event.
Round 2:
WD: Ashwini Ponnappa / Sikki Reddy lost to unseeded Indonesian pair
Kashyap lost to 6th seed Ginting
Round 1:
Pranaav / Sikki lost to pair from Netherlands
Kashyap def Rasmus Gemke (Denmark) 19-21 21-19 21-10 in 1 hour 7 mnts
Ashwini Ponnappa / Sikki Reddy def Hong Kong pair 21-16 22-20 in 37 mnts
Qualifiers:
Kashyap def Lucas Claerbout (France) and Vladimir Malkov (Russia) to qualify for Main round
Subhankar Dey lost to Tanongsak (Thailand)
WS Mugdha Agrey lost to Sabrina (Hong Kong)
Rituparna Das lost to Ruselli (Indonesia)