Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen faced an early exit in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2025 after losing in the opening round at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, New Delhi. Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist Sen fell to Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei in straight sets, 21-15, 21-10, in just 37 minutes.
Ranked 12th in the men’s singles, Sen struggled to find his rhythm. Reflecting on the loss, he said, “I couldn’t really play my game. Overall, the movements were a bit slow today and not getting under the shuttle to connect with, but credit to him, he (Chun-Yi Lin) played a really good game… I was prepared for a really good match but today was the day I couldn’t find my grip on the court.”
World No. 26 HS Prannoy also bowed out in the first round after a hard-fought three-game match against Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei, losing 16-21, 21-18, 21-12. Despite a strong start, Prannoy could not capitalize and fell short in the deciding game.
Doubles Matches Bring Cheer
India’s seventh-seeded women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto triumphed in their opening match, defeating compatriots Kavya Gupta and Radhika Sharma 21-11, 21-12. Meanwhile, the Panda sisters, Rutuparna and Swetaparna, overcame a challenging match to beat Thailand’s Phattarin Aiamvareesrisakul and Sarisa Janpeng 7-21, 21-19, 21-14.
Mixed doubles pair Ashith Surya and Amruta Pramuthesh also advanced after a 21-14, 21-15 win over K Tarun and Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli.
Post-match, Ashwini Ponnappa shared, “It’s important for us to take one match at a time. Currently, our aim is to just play well and give our best when we enter the court.” Tanisha Crasto added, “It was very important for both of us to try everything today and understand what is favorable for us and what’s not… We really had fun.”
Close Battles in Singles
In the women’s singles, Malvika Bansod put up a spirited fight against China’s third-seed Han Yue. Despite saving two game points in the first game and staging a comeback in the second, Malvika lost 20-22, 21-16, 21-11 after an intense 66-minute battle.
Speaking about her performance, Malvika said, “In less than a week, I have made quite some progress against the current world number 4. So, I think I have done pretty well. But a few more points needed to be worked on. I am overall happy with the performance and would like to thank the wonderful crowd that was there today.”
Anupama Upadhyaya also delivered a strong performance, defeating a fellow rising player in the women’s singles. However, some of India’s young stars fell short in their respective matches despite putting up commendable efforts.