India's top men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered another injury blow as their comeback at the Japan Open 2026 ended prematurely, while two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu progressed comfortably to the second round of the BWF Super 750 tournament on Tuesday.
Making their first competitive appearance since last month's Indonesia Open, Satwik and Chirag were forced to retire during their opening-round match against Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard after Satwik's recurring shoulder injury flared up again.
The world No. 4 Indian pair narrowly lost the opening game 21-19 before deciding not to continue the contest. The reigning Asian Games champions had already missed four tournaments after Satwik aggravated the same shoulder injury during the opening round of the Indonesia Open. The latest setback comes only weeks after the duo ended a two-year BWF World Tour title drought by winning the Singapore Open in May.
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India found reason to celebrate in the women's singles event, where world No. 10 PV Sindhu produced a clinical performance to defeat Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching 21-14, 21-11 in just 35 minutes.
Sindhu controlled the match from the outset, taking an early advantage and capitalising on her opponent's errors to comfortably seal the opening game. She carried that momentum into the second game, racing to an 8-2 lead before extending it to 11-3 at the interval. Wong struggled to mount any sustained challenge as Sindhu wrapped up the contest on her second match point, registering her third consecutive victory over the Malaysian.
India also enjoyed success in the mixed doubles competition, with Olympian Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila advancing to the second round after defeating Scotland's Alexander Dunn and Julie Macpherson 21-16, 21-14 in straight games.
However, it was the end of the road for Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, who suffered a 21-11, 21-10 defeat to top-seeded and world No. 1 Chinese combination Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping in the opening round.
India's campaign at the Japan Open continues on Wednesday, with Lakshya Sen and promising youngster Unnati Hooda set to begin their respective singles campaigns in the opening round.
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