Sen, Satwik-Chirag deliver highs as youth offer hope in transition

Indian badminton navigated a difficult 2025 marked by injuries and uneven top-level performances, but Lakshya Sen’s title win, a World Championships medal from Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and encouraging strides by the next generation offered measured optimism in a transitional season. The year often felt more like one of reassessment than consolidation, with established names struggling for consistency as fitness setbacks disrupted preparation and rhythm across the calendar.

Against that backdrop, Sen’s triumph at the Australian Open Super 500 emerged as the most significant individual achievement of the season. The title marked a return to form after a difficult period following his fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics. It was Sen’s first Super 500 crown since the Canada Open in 2023 and his first title overall since winning the Syed Modi International Super 300 in December last year.

He also came close to adding another trophy but couldn’t cross the final frontier, finishing runner-up at the Hong Kong Open. In an otherwise stop-start year, Satwik and Chirag reaffirmed their status as India’s premier doubles pair despite battling injury and illness early in the season. The duo claimed a bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris, reached the finals of the Hong Kong Open and China Masters, and ended the year on a positive note by becoming the first Indian men’s doubles pair to reach the knockout stage of the BWF World Tour Finals.

For former world number 1 Kidambi Srikanth, the season offered glimpses of a revival but there was no silverware. He rolled back the years with runner-up finishes at the Malaysia Masters and the Syed Modi International, falling just short in his bid to end a prolonged title drought. At the Syed Modi International, Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly successfully defended their women’s doubles title, providing a rare moment of stability in a fluctuating season. Youngsters step up.

The most encouraging signs came from the next generation. Ayush Shetty, 20, delivered a season of promise, winning the US Open Super 300 and showing the tools required to compete consistently on the BWF World Tour. He also recorded notable wins over Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, former world champion Loh Kean Yew, Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen and Canada’s Brian Yang, underlining his upward trajectory. Even more eye-catching was the rise of 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma, who won silver in the girls’ singles at the World Junior Championships.

She narrowly missed a maiden Super 300 title after reaching the US Open final and also produced one of the season’s standout wins by defeating former world number 1 Nozomi Okuhara at the Syed Modi International. Tanvi capped her year with another runner-up finish at the Guwahati Masters.  Unnati Hooda also made steady gains, playing a key role in India’s bronze-medal finish at the World Junior Team Championships before clinching the Odisha Masters Super 100 title to rise to world number 23. Her victory over senior compatriot PV Sindhu at the China Masters drew further attention. Sanskar Saraswat’s maiden Super 100 title at the Guwahati Masters further underlined the growing depth of domestic talent.

Established names struggle

New Delhi: For India’s senior shuttlers, however, 2025 proved largely frustrating. Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist, managed three quarterfinal finishes but also suffered six first-round and four second-round exits. A hamstring issue early in the year disrupted her campaign before a foot injury forced her to withdraw from all remaining BWF events from October onwards. HS Prannoy, a 2023 world championships bronze winner, endured an even tougher season, with the lingering effects of a mid-2024 chikungunya bout and recurring injuries severely hampering his form.

An ankle injury at the India Open in January and a rib muscle injury at the Korea Open in September restricted consistent training, contributing to nine second-round exits and eight first-round losses.India’s struggles were also evident in team events, with underwhelming performances at the Asia Mixed Team Championship in February and Sudirman Cup in May, reflecting the broader lack of depth and fitness at the elite level. Off the court, debate was sparked when chief national coach Pullela Gopichand flagged the absence of alternate career pathways for athletes who fail to reach the top, his remarks advising youngsters against pursuing sport without financial security divided opinion within the sporting community.