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PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin will reprise their rivalry in a blockbuster first-round match at the Malaysia Open 2023 in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to kickstart the new season.
Sindhu has been seeded sixth at this Super 1000 tournament but will be playing her first match in five months.
The two-time Olympic medalist suffered a stress fracture on her left ankle on her way to winning the women's singles gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last August. It rendered the badminton superstar out of action since, making her miss some major tournaments, including the BWF World Championships and BWF World Tour Finals.
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Marin, too, has been building her form back after an injury hiatus. The Spaniard couldn't defend her Rio Olympic title in Tokyo after tearing her ACL and both menisci in her left knee.
The southpaw returned to action in the spring of last year and has been posting commendable results on the tour. Marin won the European Championships and finished as the runner-up at the French Open. Other than that, she reached the semifinals at the Canada Open and the quarterfinals at three other events.
PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin: Head-to-head and prediction
Marin leads Sindhu 9-5 in their head-to-head. Sindhu's last win over her Spanish nemesis came at the Malaysia Open in 2018 in a 22-20, 21-19 scoreline. Since then, the southpaw has dominated this rivalry, beating Sindhu three times in straight games.
Their most famous encounter was, of course, at the Rio Olympics final in 2016, which Marin went on to win 19-21, 21-12, 21-15.
Sindhu and Marin haven't faced off since the 2021 Swiss Open, where the Indian could hardly provide any resistance, losing 12-21, 5-21.
Although Marin is yet to reach her peak sharpness, she has been making rapid strides, as evident from her French Open performance last year. The 29-year-old beat World No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi before narrowly losing to He Bing Jiao 21-16, 9-21, 20-22.
It should give her enough confidence to tackle the likes of Sindhu, who could be rusty after a long layoff.
PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin: Date and time
PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin will square off in the women's singles first-round match at the Malaysia Open 2023 on Wednesday.
Date: January 11, 2023.
Time: Approx. 2.30 pm local time/12 pm IST.
PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin: Where to watch & live streaming details
The Malaysia Open 2023 is being broadcast live in India on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels. Matches can also be watched on Voot Select.
Live streaming is available on YouTube on BWF.TV in selected territories as well. Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software here.
