Japan Open 2026: Sindhu advances to second round, Satwik-Chirag retire injured

PV Sindhu advanced to the second round of the Japan Open 2026 with a convincing straight-games victory, while India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were forced to retire from their opening-round match because of injury on Tuesday.

Competing in the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament in Tokyo, Sindhu defeated Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching 21-14, 21-11 to book her place in the last 16. The two-time Olympic medallist controlled the contest from the outset, building early leads in both games before sealing the match in straight games.

The day, however, ended in disappointment for world No. 4 men's doubles pair Satwik and Chirag. The Indian duo retired after dropping the opening game 19-21 against Denmark's Mads Vestergaard and Daniel Lundgaard due to Satwik's recurring shoulder injury.

Injury setback for Satwik-Chirag

Chief doubles coach Tan Kim Her confirmed to PTI that the pair will also skip next week's China Open to focus on rehabilitation ahead of the BWF World Championships, which will be held in New Delhi next month.

India also enjoyed success in mixed doubles, with Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto defeating Scotland's Alexander Dunn and Julie Macpherson 21-16, 21-14 to advance to the second round.

However, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde exited the tournament after suffering a 21-11, 21-10 defeat to top seeds Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China.

Later in the day, Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun were scheduled to begin their men's doubles campaign against Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan.

With the World Championships and the Asian Games approaching, India's leading shuttlers will be hoping to build momentum, although the injury concern surrounding Satwik and Chirag will be closely monitored in the coming weeks.