The BWF 2025 Badminton season is ready to start with the Malaysia Open 2025 on Tuesday. The Super 1000 tournament will see a number of Indian stars participating in the tournament.
Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy is preparing to come back to badminton after a lengthy hiatus caused by health problems following the Olympics last year. HS Prannoy recently competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he was defeated by fellow player Lakshya Sen in the Round of 16.
Prannoy announced that he will be participating in the upcoming Malaysia Open via a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Lakshya Sen, ranked 12th in the world, is taking part in the Malaysia Open 2025 event.
Lakshya Sen, a semi-finalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, claimed victory at the Syed Modi International in December. He participated most recently in the King Cup International Badminton Open in the People’s Republic of China, securing third place.
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India’s only contender in the men’s doubles category at the Malaysia Open is the duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy. Positioned ninth in the men’s doubles, ‘Sat-Chi’ has been designated as the seventh seed in Malaysia.
While, it has been a rough 2024 for Indian badminton for Indian shuttlers as no big title came from any of India’s star players, it is high time India needs some titles to prove their mettle on the world stage.
PV Sindhu’s poor run
Previously reaching as high as number two globally, Sindhu’s performance has plateaued due to fitness concerns and the challenge of regaining her winning form, a hurdle the 29-year-old has not fully overcome.
The Syed Modi is a Super 300 tournament, which is the lowest tier among the four levels available in the BWF World Tour (following Super 1000, 750, 500), and as a result, it lacked the highest-ranked players in the world. Sindhu held the top rank among women, which benefited her but also presented an opportunity for a confidence-enhancing title victory.
Sindhu is currently planning the next phase of her badminton journey, having launched her academy in Visakhapatnam last month. However, she expressed to The Indian Express in a post-inauguration interview that her attention is on her personal performance as she enters “rigorous training and perfecting my skills.”
Lakshya Sen’s low self esteem
The Syed Modi India International only provided a relief to what has been a tough year for Indian badminton, a year of the Olympics and one devoid of titles until December. If Sindhu’s victory could rejuvenate her slowing career, Lakshya Sen’s triumph in Lucknow might aid in dispelling self-doubts.
Sen last triumphed in a tournament at the Canada Open in July 2023, before experiencing a significant decline with seven consecutive first round defeats since August of that year. This year has been relatively similar, with eight defeats in the initial or second round of a tournament, although he did reach the semi-finals of the French Open and the All England in March.
Previously ranked sixth, the 23-year-old narrowly missed out at the Paris Olympics in August, falling short in the semi-final and the bronze medal match, both of which he appeared to dominate at times. This prompted his main coach Padukone to assert that athletes—such as Sen—were given sufficient backing from the government and should be accountable for their performances.
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Rest of the pack
Other Indian players who have been hovering near consistent success until recently have also become a bit lax lately. H S Prannoy, 32, capable of defeating top players globally on his day, clinched a title last in Malaysia in May 2023, a Super 500 event showcasing his skill. However, fitness problems have consistently plagued him, hindering his ability to maintain form throughout a tournament.
Kidambi Srikanth, 31, who was formerly ranked No.1, last secured a title in 2017 at the French Open and has not reached the final of a BWF tournament in three years. His position has fallen to the 40s, raising questions about his drive to keep pushing forward.
Rest of the Indian players look to be promising but Indian badminton truly needs some motivation to get to the good old days.
