Indian shuttlers, led by Lakshya Sen and two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, will look to begin the new season on a strong note when the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament gets underway in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
The USD 1.45 million event marks the opening of the BWF World Tour season and will see India’s leading players test themselves against the world’s best as they seek to recover from a difficult 2025 marred by injuries and inconsistent performances.
Lakshya, the 2021 world championships bronze medallist, emerged as a bright spot last season after rediscovering form with a title at the Australian Open Super 500, following a lean phase after finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics. The 24-year-old from Almora, who also reached the Hong Kong Open final, will open his campaign against Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh.
Youngster Ayush Shetty, who impressed with a title at the US Open Super 300, will aim for greater consistency as he faces Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the opening round.
Sindhu, a former world champion, endured a challenging phase last year due to fitness issues and fluctuating form. The Indian ace missed tournaments from October onwards while recovering from a foot injury and will begin her campaign against Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun.
Unnati Hooda, who enjoyed a promising season highlighted by her second Odisha Open title, faces a tough opening test against Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and fourth seed Chen Yu Fei of China.
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Malvika Bansod, returning after a six-month absence due to a left knee injury, will take on seventh seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
Attention will also be on Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded third, after becoming the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the semifinals of the season-ending World Tour Finals last year. The former world No. 1 pair, India’s most consistent performers in 2025, open against Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan.
Another men’s doubles pair, M R Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, will face Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita. The world No. 68 duo enjoyed a successful season with four International Challenge titles.
In women’s doubles, Gayatri Gopichand, returning from a shoulder injury, and Treesa Jolly, fresh from defending their Syed Modi International title, will meet Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari.
The Panda sisters, Rutaparna and Swetaparna, face Malaysia’s second seeds Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, while Indian mixed doubles pairs Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto, Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh will also be in action.
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