New Delhi: The Yonex-Sunrise India Open is set to kick off next week at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, featuring some big names like Denmark's Viktor Axelsen and Korea's An Se Young, both of whom are Paris Olympic champions. Running from January 14-19, the tournament will also showcase a strong lineup of Indian players, including double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, 2022 champion Lakshya Sen, and the former world No. 1 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, all competing in this BWF Super 750 event.

This tournament, which got its current status in 2023, is part of the BWF World Tour and boasts a prize pool of $950,000, along with 11,000 points for the winners. As the flagship event for the Badminton Association of India, it will see a record number of Indian participants, with 21 players representing the host nation across various categories: 3 in men’s singles, 4 in women’s singles, 2 in men’s doubles, 8 in women’s doubles, and 4 in mixed doubles.

In the past two editions, India had 14 entries each time. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, the men’s doubles gold medallists Satwik and Chirag made it to the finals, while HS Prannoy, who won bronze, reached the semifinals in singles for 2024.

Only two players from the top 20 in men’s singles will be absent, but the women’s singles draw will feature 14 of the top 20 players. With several top doubles players planning to retire after the Paris Olympics or switch partners, we might see some unexpected outcomes in those events. From India’s viewpoint, it’ll be fascinating to watch how Satwik and Chirag recover after Chirag’s injury and their tough exit in the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics.

The men’s doubles competition is headed by China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, who won silver at the Paris Olympics, along with Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who took home bronze. Other strong contenders include Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, as well as Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

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