India’s leading badminton players will return to action at the BWF Japan Open Super 750, which gets underway on Tuesday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, with the comeback of men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty being the biggest talking point.
The tournament, which offers a prize purse of USD 950,000, is an important stop on the BWF World Tour. It also serves as crucial preparation for next month’s BWF World Championships in New Delhi and the Asian Games later this year.
All eyes will be on Satwik and Chirag as they make their first appearance since the Indonesia Open in June. Satwik had aggravated a shoulder injury during that tournament, forcing the pair to miss four consecutive events. The break came just weeks after they ended a two-year wait for a BWF World Tour title by winning the Singapore Open in May.
Seeded third in Tokyo, the world No. 4 Indian pair will begin their campaign against Denmark’s Mads Vestergaard and Daniel Lundgaard. India will also be represented in the men’s doubles by MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan, who head into the tournament after reaching the quarter-finals in both the Indonesia Open and Australian Open.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen returns to the circuit after his outing in Indonesia and will face Japan’s Kenta Watanabe in the opening round. Youngster Ayush Shetty has a difficult first-round assignment against Thailand’s former world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
In the women’s singles draw, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will be back in action after reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month. She opens her campaign against Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching. Rising Indian shuttler Unnati Hooda will take on Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-Hsun.
India’s mixed doubles challenge will be led by Olympian Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde will also compete in the event. There will, however, be no Indian pair in the women’s doubles after Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela withdrew from the tournament before the start of play.
The Japan Open has attracted a world-class field. Men’s world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi, Anders Antonsen, Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Japan’s Kodai Naraoka are among the leading contenders, while defending champion An Se Young, Wang Zhi Yi, Chen Yu Fei and four-time winner Akane Yamaguchi headline the women’s singles draw.
India has never won a title at the Japan Open, and the players will be hoping to break that drought while gaining valuable momentum ahead of the World Championships and the Asian Games.
India squad:
Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty
Women’s Singles: P.V. Sindhu, Unnati Hooda
Men’s Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy – Chirag Shetty, Hariharan Amsakarunan – MR Arjun
Mixed Doubles: Dhruv Kapila – Tanisha Crasto, Rohan Kapoor – Ruthvika Gadde