Young Indian men’s doubles pairing Dhruv Kapila-M.R. Arjun pulled out of next week’s BWF Malaysia Super 1000 tournament due to an injury to the latter. The duo targets the Thailand Open return to begin their campaign in the Olympic qualification cycle. This means Dhruv-Arjun will also miss India Open, which has been upgraded to a Super 750 tournament this year.
“I had this injury while training during French Open, so I had withdrawn from Hylo Open. I felt I had recovered but I felt discomfort again while we started training a few weeks back, so now I am in Mumbai to address it,” Arjun said.
“It is nothing major, I have been advised to start rehab and depending on how I do this week, will take a call. So we have withdrawn from Malaysia Open. I am not sure about India Open as of now, my main priority is to get my fitness back as it is an important year for us,” he added.
The emerging duo, who won their maiden title last year at Maharashtra International Challenge, has fast emerged as a promising face in Indian doubles by reaching the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships along with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
“I think overall India is progressing in men’s doubles, especially with Satwik and Chirag doing so well. We practice with them regularly and it motivates us. We have improved a lot by practicing with them,” said Arjun.
“Both of them are always keen to help us and also Arjun himself is also quite experienced. He has been playing for 5 to 6 years now, so I believe we are improving step by step,” he added.
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Asked about their preparations for the Olympic qualification the 25-year-old said, “Our target is to win Thailand Open in February. We want to do well in this tournament before the European circuit starts in March.
The Indian duo, currently ranked 21st, will have to be inside the top 8 when the final qualifiers list for the Games is announced on April 30, 2024.
With PTI inputs
