CHENNAI: The beauty of sports is that a new season can bring a turn in fortunes as the players enter with a renewed sense of optimism. Past shortcomings can be put aside as athletes have a chance to author a fresh script. The badminton season, which commenced with the Asian leg in Kuala Lumpur last week, is now set for a pitstop in New Delhi, with the India Open scheduled to kick off from Tuesday.
The six-day tournament — a BWF Super 750 event — is an ideal platform for Indians to regain some magic that has eluded them in recent times. PV Sindhu, who exhibited some promise in Malaysia, is someone who's looking to break the theme and get back to challenging for titles.
"I'm really happy to be playing at the home ground, what else you will be needing at the home ground, the fans are very supportive all the time, the federation as well. I think we will put our efforts and give our 100% and hope we get some good results here," the women's singles specialist said during the pre-tournament press conference.
The double Olympic medallist has had a few good results here and there but it has been too few as far as India is concerned. Having reached the quarterfinals last week, she'll be hoping to make the advantage count and go deeper this time, something that could give her the belief to counter elite rivals in the days to come.
Lakshya Sen's (men's singles) tale is somewhat similar. Just like Sindhu, the World No 13 has been hot and cold. Lakshya, who's the winner of 2022 edition (it was Super 500 level then), will be hoping to find that balance in play and marry consistency, going forward. These two are clearly India's best bets in the singles department. Apart from the experienced duo, one talent to keep a close eye on is Ayush Shetty, who has shown the ability to hang with the best in the business. Just last week, he had stretched World No 1 Shi Yu Qi in the second round before eventually going down in 70 minutes.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, meanwhile, have had their share of doubts in recent months. The Indian duo has hit a roadblock when it comes to dealing with matches at the business end of tournaments. Given that they set tall standards for themselves, they'll be determined to get back to winning days.
"We've won a lot of tournaments but winning the India Open back in 2022 gave us a huge boost to perform for the year and I think, likewise, this time around too, we would want to go as deep into the tournament as possible," Chirag said.
This year's event holds more weight as all the elite-level shuttlers will be returning to the same venue for the coveted World Championships later this year. So it's equally vital for the sport's standard-setters like An Se Young (women's singles) and men's doubles pairing of Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae, who are entering the new season on the back of record-breaking 2025. Their relentless pursuit for excellence has seen them conquer titles across pincodes. And that hunger was visible one again last week as both An and the men's doubles pair walked away with titles.
Wang Zhi Yi, who had as many as nine second-place finishes since the start of 2025, will be hoping to end the An puzzle and flip the script heading into other key events, including the aforementioned Worlds, in the coming months.
Wang will open her campaign against World Junior medallist Tanvi Sharma, a last-minute inclusion in the women's singles draw. For Tanvi and the rest of the young faces across categories, every rally counts, every point will matter as they get the opportunity to learn and evolve. Similarly, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) representatives will be closely monitoring every little activity during the course of the tournament and the Badminton Association of India, the governing body of sport in the country, will be hopeful that they can execute a perfect dress rehearsal ahead of the World Championships.
Opening day matches (Indians unless specified): MS: Lakshya Sen vs Ayush Shetty; MD: Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun vs Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi (MYS). WD: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand vs Omnicha Jongsathapornparn/Sukitta Suwachai (THA). XD: Dhruv Rawat/Maneesha K vs Hiroki Midorikawa/Nami Matsuyama.