New Delhi, Jan 15: After the early exit of P.V. Sindhu in the first round of the India Open 2026 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, India’s campaign now hinges on the men’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles events.
India’s top men’s singles players — Lakshya Sen, H.S. Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth — all advanced to the Round of 16 and will be in action on Thursday.
Kidambi Srikanth will face Christo Popov of France in the Round of 16.
H.S. Prannoy is set to take on former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.
Lakshya Sen will go up against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan.
In men’s doubles, India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will compete against Japan’s K. Yamashita and H. Midorikawa.
India will also be represented in women’s doubles, where Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will face China’s X. Luo and Y. Li in the Round of 16.
P.V. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, started strongly by winning the opening game 22-20 but went on to lose the next two games 12-21, 15-21 against Nguyen Thuy Linh of Vietnam.
Despite the setbacks, hopes remain high that the remaining Indian shuttlers can deliver strong performances and challenge for podium finishes.
Source:BWF
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