India Open 2026: Srikanth, Prannoy roll back the years; Malvika advances, PV Sindhu crashes out; Dhruv-Tanisha ousted
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India Open 2026: Srikanth, Prannoy roll back the years; Malvika advances, PV Sindhu crashes out; Dhruv-Tanisha ousted")
Kidambi Srikanth in action Photograph: (BAI)
Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy advanced at the ongoing India Open 2026, while 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma impressed despite defeat; Sindhu was knocked out in round one
Former champion Kidambi Srikanth and seasoned campaigner HS Prannoy showcased their resilience and experience to book spots in the men’s singles second round on a mixed opening day for India at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2026 on Wednesday (January 14). While Srikanth and Prannoy came through testing encounters against younger rivals, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma caught the spotlight with a spirited showing against women’s singles second seed Wang Zhi Yi of China, despite exiting in the first round.
Srikanth, 32, overcame a slow start to defeat compatriot Tharun M 15-21, 21-6, 21-19. Prannoy, 33, delivered one of the biggest Indian wins of the day by eliminating last year’s finalist Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 22-20, 21-18 in the opening round of men’s singles. In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod emerged as the only Indian to move into the second round on Wednesday.
The left-hander registered a straight-games victory over Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei, winning 21-18, 21-19. Teenager Tanvi Sharma, the reigning world junior silver medallist, came close to pulling off an upset against Wang. She missed a game point in the opening game before bouncing back strongly to claim the second. However, fatigue set in during the decider as Wang stepped up the pace, eventually winning 22-20, 18-21, 21-13.
PV Sindhu knocked out in first round
Former world champion PV Sindhu’s campaign ended early as she went down in three games to Vietnam’s Thuy Linh Nguyen, losing 22-20, 12-21, 15-21 in the first round. The standout Indian performances of the day, however, belonged to Srikanth and Prannoy, both of whom were looking to revive their careers after a challenging 2025 season. Prannoy, who had struggled with fitness issues last year, entered the main draw following the withdrawal of world No. 3 Anders Antonsen and capitalised fully on the opportunity.
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Ranked 38th in the world, Prannoy relied on sharp smashes and patience in long rallies to unsettle Lee. He saved two game points in the opening game and maintained pressure with precise down-the-line winners to seal a straight-games win. He will next face eighth seed and former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, who edged past China’s Wang Zheng Xing in three games.
“Just getting the chance to play a Super 750 event feels special for me,” Prannoy said. “I kept telling myself to enjoy the match and not worry too much about the score, and that mindset really helped.” Srikanth, making his return to Super 750 competition after last appearing at the Singapore Open in May 2025, took time to settle against Tharun. After conceding the first game, the former world no. 1 dominated the second and showed his composure in the decider.
Trailing 17-19 in the final game, Srikanth tightened his net play and forced errors from his opponent to reel off four consecutive points, clinching the contest in 53 minutes. He will now meet France’s Christo Popov, the BWF World Tour Finals champion, in the next round. “It was a very close match and could have gone either way,” Srikanth said. “A couple of points made the difference in the end.”
Dhruv-Tanisha pair ousted in opening round
Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto were knocked out in the opening round of the India Open 2026. They lost 21-15 and 21-14. Reflecting on the match, Tanisha said, “We made a lot of errors in the simple shots. We have to keep our calm and stay focused during important points. I also need to be more dominant at the net. Our coach also tells us that we have the skin and we just have to be daring enough while playing in the tournaments.” Meanwhile, Dhruv said, “The last two weeks have not been good for me. I am struggling with my back injury. We are in a rough patch now, but I am hoping that the next two-three months will be good for us.”
Day 2 results
Men’s singles: Ku nlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-19, 23-25, 21-10; 5-Christo Popov (Fra) bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 13-21, 21-18, 21-19; K Srikanth bt Tharun M 15-21, 21-6, 21-19; 3-Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt Jia Heng Jason Teh (Sin) 21-16, 21-10; 8-Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Wang Zheng Xing (Chn) 23-21, 19-21, 21-14; HS Prannoy bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG) 22-20, 21-18
Women’s singles: Wang Zhi Yi (Chn) bt Tanvi Sharma 22-20, 18-21, 21-13; Thuy Linh Nguyen (Vie) bt PV Sindhu 20-22, 21-12, 21-15; 1-AN Se Young (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-17, 21-9; Malvika Bansod bt Pai Yu Po (Tpe) 21-18, 21-19; 5-Han Yue (Chn) bt Sung Shuo Yun (Tpe) 18-21, 21-13, 21-17
Women’s doubles: Nanako Hara/Riko Kiyose (Jpn) bt Rutuparna Panda/Swetaparna Panda 21-8, 21-18; Ha Na Baek/So Hee Lee (Kor) bt Gayatri Rawat/Mansa Rawat 21-5, 21-8
Mixed Doubles: Pakkapol Teeraratsakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto 21-15, 21-14; Marvin Seidel/Thuc Phuong Nguyen (Ger) bt Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Shivani Gadde 21-19, 21-14; Tyuichi Shimogami/ Sayaka Hobara (JPN) bt Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh 21-15, 21-7
