HS Prannoy and Ayush Shetty will headline India’s campaign at the Korea Open 2025 as Satwik-Chirag duo skips the event. (Imae Credit: Sportstar- The Hindu)
HS Prannoy will be India's largest hope when the USD 475,000 Korea Open Super 500 badminton competition begins in Suwon on Tuesday. The bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships has endured a vexing season with a succession of premature exits, but his battles have been competitive, regularly taking top-ranked competitors to three games. Prannoy opens against a qualifier and could face Chinese Taipei’s veteran Chou Tien Chen in the second round, a clash that may test his fitness and mental strength.
All eyes will also be on 22-year-old Ayush Shetty, the lone Indian shuttler to win a BWF title this year. The Mangalore-born champion won the US Open title and has since emerged as India's most promising young talent. Ayush has bagged top scalps in this season, beating Japan's Kodai Naraoka, Chou Tien Chen, Kidambi Srikanth, Loh Kean Yew, and Denmark's Rasmus Gemke. His opening-round battle is against Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei as he bids to follow through on his trajectory on the world circuit.
India's top men's doubles combination Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who made successive final appearances in the Hong Kong and China Masters, will miss out on this tournament. Their non-appearance puts all the focus on Prannoy and Ayush to extend India's run deep into the tournament.
Kiran George also appears in the men's singles bracket but will have a stiff first-round test against fifth-seeded Singapore's Loh Kean Yew, who is a former world champion. In women's singles, young gun Anupama Upadhyaya has been drawn against fourth-seeded Indonesian Putri Kusuma Wardani in the first round.
In the mixed doubles, Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan will start their campaign against Japanese Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara. A victory here would provide them with vital ranking points before next season's congested BWF calendar.
