New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS): Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and Kiran George were added to the men’s singles draw of the India Open 2025 following the late withdrawal of top seed Shi Yuqi of China and eighth seed Antony Ginting of Indonesia. The withdrawal of Shi Yuqi and Antony Ginting means that the men’s and women’s singles main draws were updated according to the rules.
While the focus will remain on two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who will be participating in her first event after he marriage, home hopes will also rest on Lakshya Sen in men's singles and Asian Games gold medallist Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men's doubles.
As things stand now, Lakshya Sen will now take Ginting’s place in the draw and hence will face Chun Yi Lin of Chinese Taipei in the opening round. Srikanth will take on China’s Hong Yang Weng while Kiran George will open his campaign against Yushi Tanaka of Japan.
In the women’s draw, Sindhu will move to Busnan Ongbamrungphan’s place in the draw and will now face Shuo Yun Sung of Chinese Taipei in the first round. There will still be an all-Indian clash in the opening round with Anupama Upadhyaya now facing Rakshita Sree SR. Having taken their time by spending time away from the circuit, the top stars of Indian badminton are set to unleash their best on home turf as the India Open 2025 kicks off at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the Indira Gandhi Arena here from Tuesday.
The prestigious event, which is part of the BWF World Tour Super 750 series, has attracted the world’s best badminton players including the likes of Olympic champions Viktor Axelsen and An Se-Young among others.
Sindhu, the 2017 champion, took a long break after the Paris Olympics before returning to the circuit at the end of the year. She also got married in December and is looking forward to making a strong statement with her performance here.
“This will be my first tournament after marriage and also in the new year. So, everything is new and I want to give my best in the competition in front of the home fans… After the Paris Olympics, I wanted some time to recover physically and emotionally, and the break has helped me get back rejuvenated,” said Sindhu at the launch press conference of the India Open 2025 on Monday.
Apart from Sindhu, Indian badminton fans will be hoping that Commonwealth Games gold medallists and last edition's runners-up, Satwik and Chirag, add another India Open trophy to their tally.
Satwik and Chirag were out of action for a major part of 2024 after the Paris Games. They made a strong comeback in the Malaysia Open Super 1000 last week, reaching the semifinals, and are determined to repeat their 2022 India Open title-winning performance.
“The shoulder injury has been on and off. But I also had a back injury after the Paris Olympics which took time to recover from. But now I am fine and have no problems,” said Satwik and Chirag.
“The last time we came here was after playing the final of the Malaysia Open and reached the final here. This time also we have started (the year) with a semi-final in Malaysia and want to improve on last year’s results,” he added.
More than 200 players from powerhouse badminton nations such as India, China, Japan, Denmark, South Korea, and Indonesia will be in action in the India Open this week with as many as 45 Indian players set to participate in the tournament.