India Open 2025: Spotlight on home stars

CHENNAI: It is still early days to the start of the new Olympic cycle and there’s a sense of renewed energy surrounding some of the elite shuttlers in the BWF circuit. That is predominantly the case for Indians as they’ll be playing in familiar conditions in front of the home fans at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall during the Indian Open, which kicks off on Tuesday, in New Delhi.

PV Sindhu will mark her first appearance since her much talked-about marriage. Doubles aces Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, after reaching the semifinal stage in the season-opener in Malaysia, will be hoping to go the distance after reuniting with Malaysian coach Tan Kim Her. Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy will be entering the BWF Super 750-level event with similar zest.

“This will be my first tournament after marriage… 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 rejuvenated,” Sindhu said during a press meet on the eve of the event.

This is certainly a new phase for Sindhu, who has had injury woes and has been a shadow of her former self in the last twelve months. With some of Sindhu’s nemeses not in the picture, the two-time Olympic medallist will be hoping to regain her winning touch. Some of her rivals have either retired or have been injured or have opted to stay away from the sport for an indefinite period. Having said that, the women’s singles is still quite formidable with Olympic champ An Se Young being the biggest name. As was evident in Malaysia, An has been the opposite of Sindhu and will be a difficult force to stop. China’s Wang Zhi Yi and Han Yue are top-ranked stars who have the firepower to dominate opponents.