India Open 2026: PV Sindhu Suffers First Round Exit As Kidambi Srikanth Moves On

Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu was shockingly knocked out with an opening loss but Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round on a mixed day for India at the USD 950,000 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament at the IG Stadium in New Delhi on January 14.

Sindhu, who reached the semifinals of Malaysia Super 1000 last week, couldn't maintain the pressure after narrowly pocketing the opening game to eventually go down 22-20 12-21 15-21 to Vietnam's Thuy Linh Nguyen in 68 minutes.

Earlier, former world No.1 Srikanth had to dig deep to outlast fellow Indian Tharun Mannepalli 15-21, 21-6, 21-19, while Malvika Bansod, returning from an injury layoff, displayed patience and defensive solidity to beat Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po 21-18, 21-19.

The Indian women's doubles campaign also got off to a positive start with Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand cruising past Thailand's Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn and Sukitta Suwachai 21-15, 21-11.

The Indian pair, on a high after defending their Syed Modi International title last month, will next face seventh seeds Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min of China.

However, it was a disappointing day for India in mixed doubles, with three home pairs exiting in the first round.

Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto went down 15-21, 14-21 to Thailand's Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, while Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde lost 19-21, 14-21 to Germany's Marvin Seidel and Thuc Phuong Nguyen.

Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also made their way out after a 15-21, 7-21 defeat to Japan's Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.