Cuttack: Odisha Masters 2023, a major international badminton tournament in Asia, took off at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday.
Shuttlers from 30 countries are participating in the tournament which carries total prize money of 100,000 US dollars. The matches will be played in five categories of Men’s Single, Women’s Single, Men’s Mixed Double, Women’s Mixed Double and Mixed Double during the tournament.
On the first day of the Odisha Masters, Isharani Baruah of India beat Indonesia’s Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari 25-23, 21-17 in Women’s Single. In another match, Likhita Srivastava (India) outplayed her opponent Gladys Mbabazi from Uganda with a score of 21-11, 21-14.
In Men’s Single, Varun Kapur (India), who is seeded 8th in the tournament, got a walkover from Ansal Yadav (India).
In Mixed Doubles, Nithin HV and Chayanit Joshi (India) beat Zhakuo Seyie and Vedant Sharma (India) by 21-10, 21-15. In another match, the pair of Tushar Gagneja and Balkeshari Yadav (India) was defeated by Sumeeth Reddy and Ashith Surya by 21-19, 21-16.
The tournament is categorised as a Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour Super 100 event.