Former world champion PV Sindhu faced an early exit from the Swiss Open 2025 badminton tournament after suffering a first-round defeat to Denmark’s Julie Jakobsen in the women’s singles category on Wednesday.
Sindhu, currently ranked 17th in the world, lost 21-17, 21-19 in a hard-fought contest that lasted 61 minutes. This marks her third consecutive first-round exit in 2025, following similar setbacks at the Indonesia Masters and All England Open. Her last notable performance was a quarter-final finish at the India Open earlier this year. Sindhu, who won the Swiss Open title in 2022, struggled to regain her best form against Jakobsen, ranked 31st globally.
In the men’s singles category, India’s Kidambi Srikanth emerged victorious in a thrilling first-round battle against fellow Indian HS Prannoy. The former world No. 1, now ranked 49th, secured a 23-21, 23-21 victory. Srikanth will now face a tough challenge against world No. 6 Li Shifeng from China in the round of 16.
Young Indian shuttler Sankar Subramanian also impressed with a commanding 21-5, 21-16 win over Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen. The 64th-ranked Indian will now face world No. 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the next round, where he will need to produce his best performance to advance further.
Meanwhile, Priyanshu Rajawat, ranked 35th in men’s singles, cruised into the pre-quarterfinals with a dominant 21-10, 21-11 victory over Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi. He is set to take on France’s Toma Junior Popov in his next match.
In women’s singles, Anupama Upadhyaya and Isharani Baruah progressed to the next round. Anupama secured a straight-game victory over fellow Indian Anmol Kharb, winning 21-14, 21-13. Isharani, on the other hand, battled past Aakarshi Kashyap in a thrilling contest, eventually triumphing 21-18, 17-21, 22-20.
However, the day saw mixed results for Indian players. Malvika Bansod bowed out after losing to Canada’s Michelle Li in a three-game encounter (20-22, 21-14, 21-19), while Kiran George and Ayush Shetty also failed to progress beyond the opening round.
In the mixed doubles category, Indian pairs struggled, with Ayush Agarwal/Shruti Mishra and Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh suffering straight-game defeats. However, the duo of Sathish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyatth secured a hard-fought 21-15, 22-20 victory over Algeria’s Koceila and Tanina Mammeri.
With several Indian shuttlers still in contention, the coming rounds will be crucial for the country’s campaign at the BWF Super 300 tournament in Basel.
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