India’s leading shuttlers, including P V Sindhu and Lakshya Sen, will seek to convert recent promise into podium finishes when the USD 950,000 India Open Super 750 begins in New Delhi on Tuesday, with tricky early-round draws awaiting the home contingent.
Despite the advantage of familiar conditions, Indian players have found sustained success at home elusive, with only a handful claiming titles at the tournament over the past 15 years.
The draw has once again thrown up immediate challenges, most notably an all-Indian men’s singles first-round clash between former champion Lakshya Sen and rising youngster Ayush Shetty. Sindhu, the 2017 champion, opens her campaign against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh.
Sindhu arrives in Delhi following a confidence-boosting run at the Malaysia Open Super 1000, where she reached the semifinals before losing to China’s Wang Zhiyi. The performance marked a timely lift for the two-time Olympic medallist after an injury-interrupted phase.
Lakshya, the 2022 India Open champion, has endured a mixed start to the season. He ended 2025 with a title at the Australian Open Super 500 but suffered an early setback at the Malaysia Open.
Ayush Shetty, however, has emerged as one of India’s brightest prospects. The 20-year-old from Karnataka, a bronze medallist at the 2023 World Junior Championships, won the US Open Super 300 in 2025 and has registered victories over leading names, including Kodai Naraoka, Loh Kean Yew and Chou Tien Chen. Last week, he stunned Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in Kuala Lumpur.
Also read: Sindhu succumbs to Wang in Malaysia Open semifinals
In other men’s singles ties, H S Prannoy will face Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, while former champion Kidambi Srikanth, winner in 2015, has been drawn against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi.
In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod will meet Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po, while a clutch of young Indian players will look to exploit home conditions to push into the latter stages.
India’s strongest title hopes again rest on men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The former champions have reached two finals in the last four editions, winning the title in 2022. They open against Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith after a quarterfinal exit at the Malaysia Open.
In women’s doubles, top Indian pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela will take on Thailand’s Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai. The duo come into the tournament after successfully defending their Syed Modi International Super 300 title in Lucknow.
The event also offers exposure to India’s emerging doubles combinations, with several young pairs facing challenging opening-round opponents across women’s and mixed doubles categories.
With the India Open shifting to a larger venue at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, which will also host the BWF World Championships in August — Indian shuttlers will look to adapt swiftly and turn familiarity into silverware.
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