Prannoy, Srikanth Lead India at Swiss Open

The Swiss Open begins today in Basel, and Indian shuttlers H. S. Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth will lead the country’s challenge in the tournament. However, two-time Olympic medallist P. V. Sindhu will not take part this year as she continues to recover after facing difficulties during a recent three-day ordeal in Dubai.

In the men’s singles category, Srikanth will begin his campaign against Jason Gunawan of Hong Kong tomorrow. Srikanth had a strong run last year, reaching the finals of both the Malaysia Masters and the Syed Modi International tournaments.

Prannoy, who won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships and another bronze at the Asian Games, will face Japan’s Koki Watanabe in his opening match. Other Indian players in the men’s singles draw also have challenging matches. Tharun Mannepalli will play against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, while Ayush Shetty will take on Canada’s Brian Yang. Kiran George will face Singapore’s well-known shuttler Loh Kean Yew in another opening-round clash.

In the men’s doubles category, India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, currently ranked world No. 4, will start their campaign against the Singapore pair Eng Keat Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.

Another Indian men’s doubles team, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M. R. Arjun, will compete against the Chinese Taipei pair Chen Zhi Ray and Lin Yu Chieh in their first match.

In the women’s singles event, young Indian player Unnati Hooda will face Chiu Pin-Chian of Chinese Taipei, while Malvika Bansod will take on Thailand’s strong player Pornpawee Chochuwong.

With several Indian players competing across different categories, fans will be hoping for strong performances as the tournament progresses. The Swiss Open is an important event in the international badminton calendar and provides players a valuable opportunity to gain ranking points and build momentum for upcoming competitions.