Indian Challenge Ends Early at 2025 Japan Open

At the 2025 Japan Open, Indian shuttler PV Sindhu suffered her fifth first-round exit of the season, losing to South Korea's Sim Yu Jin. Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the second round with straight-game victories but both were eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals, with Sen falling to Japan's Kodai Naraoka. Anupama Upadhyaya and Unnati Hooda also exited in the early rounds, resulting in no Indian representation in the tournament's later stages. These results underscore a mix of strong starts and ongoing struggles for Indian badminton stars in 2025. The performance highlights the need for greater consistency as Olympic qualification events approach.