The 2025 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament witnessed an action-packed day of play at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, as the top Indian doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reached the semifinals. Yet, it was a mixed bag of results for Indian players on the day, as PV Sindhu and Kiran George could not make it to the next round in their respective events.
Satwik-Chirag Make It to India Open Semifinals with Dominant Win
India’s dynamic men’s doubles duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty produced a dominant performance in front of a packed audience, booking their place in the semifinals of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open for the second consecutive year. The pair triumphed over South Korea’s Yong Jin and Kang Min Hyuk in straight games, winning 21-10, 21-17.
Satwik and Chirag played a great match in which they came out with impressive skills, particularly in the first game, where they ran to an impressive 9-1 lead. Their attacking play left little for the Koreans to do, as the Indians ended the first game within 18 minutes. The Indians were in total control in the second game but had to stay focused to their advantage as they went into the semifinals.
It had been a stunning upset for Satwik and Chirag because, earlier on in the event, the Korean duo had sprung an upset defeat to top-seed and the world number one pair, Kim Astrup and Anders Skarp Rasmussen in the first round. Satwik and Chirag will meet the third seeds of Indonesia Sze Fei Goh and Nur Izzuddin for the semifinals. Hopefully, they could reach the final.
PV Sindhu and Kiran George Crash Out
PV Sindhu’s campaign in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the India Open was ended by a narrow loss to fourth-seeded Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. The Indian, however, came back from 9-21, 19-21, 17-21 to make the contest a one-game affair at least.
It was a bitter pill for the 29-year-old Indian star, who claimed she lacked consistency in the game. She started struggling with some movement in the first game; however, she found her rhythm in the second one, pushing Tunjung to the back of the court and sending the scores level at 9-9.
The match transformed into a game of endurance as Sindhu forced Tunjung to take greater risks. Yet, Sindhu could not hold on to the momentum, and Tunjung took the decider in a tight finish. Despite the defeat, Sindhu’s performance in the second game showed glimpses of her best form, and hope for future performances after fighting with injuries post-Paris Olympics.
Similarly, in the men’s singles quarterfinals, Kiran George lost to China’s Weng Hong Yang. Kiran put up a good fight but went down 21-13, 21-19, thus getting knocked out of the tournament at the quarterfinal stage.
Key Results in Other Matches
Other notable matches saw the top seed in women’s singles, An Se Young of South Korea, demonstrate her supremacy with an easy victory over Singapore’s Yoo Jia Min 21-11, 21-12. Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong also had a good day as she outplayed Chinese third seed Han Yu 21-17, 21-16 to book her way into the semi-finals.
The reigning Paris Olympic champion, the men’s single was put through much agony as Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen took Loh Kean Yew to a thriller – former world champion from Singapore and secured his seat in the subsequent round after two hard-won games by emerging 21-19, 13-21, 21-8 winners of the decider for himself.
THE DAY OF ACTION AND SUPERIORITY OF EXCELLENCY
Satwik and Chirag won it, and India celebrated another win at the India Open. This win came alongside two shocking defeats-the ones Sindhu and Kiran George suffered-went on to make this tournament an unpredictable affair. The form that Satwik and Chirag have shown of late means that they still are India’s biggest hope in men’s doubles to reach the podium.
For Sindhu, despite the defeat, there are some positive lessons drawn, mainly in her second game against Tunjung where she showed signs of resilience to fight back.
Recovery from injuries will, therefore, determine how Sindhu returns to top form.
While PV Sindhu and Kiran George will take something from the two matches, one thing is assured: Satwik and Chirag are currently India’s flag-bearers toward a final slot. The last two days in the India Open have been absolute thrill rides-what’s been seen so far has been sensational, and Saturday promises to provide even more spine-tingling action.
