Indian Badminton Stars Shine at Australian Open 2025, Shetty Upsets Naraoka
India’s badminton contingent delivered a strong showing at the Australian Open 2025 in Sydney on Thursday, with the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advancing to the quarter-finals alongside singles players Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty. However, veteran HS Prannoy was eliminated from the BWF Super 500 tournament.
Satwik-Chirag Cruise to Quarter-Finals
Third-ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued their impressive form, securing a comfortable victory over Chinese Taipei’s Su Ching-heng and Wu Guan-Xun 21-18, 21-11 in 37 minutes. Despite a slow start that saw them trailing 15-9 in the first game, the reigning Asian Games champions rallied to take control. The duo, known as “SatChi” by fans, will face fifth-seeded Indonesians Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Fajar Alfian in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Sen Battles to Victory, Shetty Scores Another Upset
Lakshya Sen, a semi-finalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the seventh seed in the tournament, overcame a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu-jen, winning 21-17, 13-21, 21-13 after a grueling match lasting over an hour. Yu-jen demonstrated remarkable resilience, saving seven game points in the first game before ultimately succumbing to Sen’s pressure.
Adding to India’s success, Ayush Shetty achieved a second significant upset in three months, defeating world No. 9 Kodai Naraoka of Japan 21-17, 21-16 in a contest lasting one hour and eight minutes. Shetty previously defeated Naraoka, a world championships silver medallist, at the Hong Kong Open in September. This victory comes despite a recent first-round loss to Naraoka at the Kumamoto Masters Japan last week. Shetty’s US Open title earlier this year remains India’s sole BWF World Tour triumph this season. He will now face Lakshya Sen in a highly anticipated quarter-final clash on Friday.
Prannoy Exits, Srikanth and Mannepalli to Play
Unfortunately, India’s HS Prannoy, currently ranked No. 35, was eliminated from the competition after a 21-19, 21-10 loss to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, ranked 17th.
Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and Tharun Mannepalli will continue their campaigns in men’s singles later today, facing Japan’s Shogo Ogawa and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, respectively. Should both players win their matches, they will face each other in the next round.
