India Open 2026: Tricky Draw for India's Singles Stars as Lakshya Sen Faces Ayush Shetty in First Round

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New Delhi, Jan 7: Indian shuttlers have been handed a challenging opening-round draw at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2026 Super 750, with former champion Lakshya Sen set for an all-Indian battle against the rising Ayush Shetty, while PV Sindhu begins her campaign against Vietnam's Thuy Linh Nguyen - a player who has beaten her in their last two meetings.

The prestigious Super 750 event, one of the crown jewels of the HSBC BWF World Tour, moves this year from the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium to a much larger multi-purpose arena in the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex.

The shift is significant as the venue will also host the 2026 BWF World Championships, giving top players a chance to test the conditions ahead of August.

For Indian fans hoping for a favourable draw, the home challenge has turned out to be particularly steep. Lakshya Sen, the 2022 champion, will run into former world junior bronze medallist Ayush Shetty right in the opening round. This means only three of India's four men's singles players can advance to Round 2, and the winner of the Sen-Shetty clash is likely to face the tough combination of fourth seed Chou Tien Chen or Japan's Kenta Nishimoto.

Among other key Indian names, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth has been drawn against world No. 12 Lin Chun-Yi, part of Chinese Taipei's bronze-winning 2024 Thomas Cup squad. A win could set up a second-round showdown with Christo Popov, who made history last month by becoming the first Frenchman to win the BWF World Tour Finals men's singles crown.

H.S. Prannoy, whose entry was confirmed after Denmark's Anders Antonsen withdrew, will begin against last edition finalist Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong, making his opener another tough test.

In women's singles, former world champion PV Sindhu faces a dangerous challenge in Thuy Linh Nguyen, ranked 22nd. Sindhu has lost her last two matches to the Vietnamese player. If she advances, she will meet either second seed Wang Zhi Yi or compatriot Gao Fang Jie in the next round. Meanwhile, Malvika Bansod, returning from injury and using her protected ranking, opens against Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po.

In men's doubles, world No. 3 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty start against the USA's Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith in what appears to be a comfortable opener. Their biggest early hurdle awaits in the quarter-finals, where they are projected to face China's eighth seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.

In women's doubles, two-time All England semifinalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand begin against Thailand's Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai, and could run into seventh seeds Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min in Round 2.

The draw also threw up some intriguing global clashes - with world No. 1 An Se Young facing former world champion Nozomi Okuhara, and third seed Akane Yamaguchi drawn against compatriot Riko Gunji.

India Open 2026 Complete Draw