Badminton
India Open 2025: Lakshya, Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag handed tough draws
Indian shuttlers have been handed tricky draws in the season's second BWF World Tour event, scheduled to take place in New Delhi from January 14 to 19.
FILE PHOTO: Lakshya Sen finished fourth at the Paris Olympics 2024.
The India Open Super 750, the season’s second BWF World Tour event, is set to kick off on January 14 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
The tournament will serve as a melting pot of excellence and fandom, bringing together the best players and passionate fans for a true badminton spectacle.
This flagship event, organised by the Badminton Association of India, was elevated to a Super 750 tournament in 2023. Part of the prestigious BWF World Tour, it offers a prize pool of USD 950,000 and 11,000 ranking points for the champions.
This year, the tournament will feature 21 Indian entries across categories: men’s singles (3), women’s singles (4), men’s doubles (2), women’s doubles (8), and mixed doubles (4).
With top stars like Olympic champions Viktor Axelsen and An Se Young, along with World No. 1 Shi Yuqi, leading the field, this edition promises a thrilling display of skill and precision.
World No. 12 Lakshya Sen has been handed a tricky draw. The country’s top men’s singles player will face World No. 20 Weng Hongyang of China, known for his spirited performances on the World Tour. Even if Lakshya overcomes Weng, the Chinese challenge will persist, with World No. 1 Shi Yuqi and World No. 7 Li Shifeng placed in the same half of the draw.
Priyanshu Rajawat faces a tough first-round opponent in World No. 8 Kodai Naraoka of Japan. In the same half of the draw, reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen looms as the biggest challenger. Meanwhile, HS Prannoy will take on Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei in his opener and is likely to face Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the second round.
In women’s singles, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu has been drawn against youngster Anupama Upadhyaya in the first round in her first tournament of the year. While there are no marquee names in Sindhu’s half of the draw, the likes of Beiwen Zhang, Tomoka Miyazaki, and Mia Blichfeldt could pose a serious challenge.
Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap, on the other hand, will face tougher opponents in the first round, up against Han Yue of China and Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, respectively.
Challenging draw for Satwik-Chirag
In men’s doubles, India’s premier duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will take on Tee Kai Wun and Man Chong Wei of Malaysia in their opening round. But their biggest test may come in the quarterfinals against the top-seeded pairing of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen. Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek are the other Indian men’s doubles pair competing at the event.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will lead the Indian challenge. They have been drawn against Japan’s Igarashi Arisa and Sakuramoto Ayako in the first round.
In mixed doubles, promising duo Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto have been drawn against Chen Kuan Cheng and Hsu Hui Yin, while Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath have been pitted against Midorikawa Hiroki and Saito Natsu in the first round.
The last Indian to win the India Open is Lakshya Sen, who clinched the men's singles title in 2022. Last year, Satwik-Chirag lost in the men's doubles final.
