India Open: Spotlight on Satwik-Chirag as jumbo Indian contingent eyes end to two-year title drought
The contingent is the biggest ever but focus would be on a handful of tried-and-tested names, especially the men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, when Indian shuttlers go up against a world-class field in the India Open Super 750 tournament beginning in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Despite the name, Indian success at the tournament hasn't been particularly regular with none from the host nation winning any title in the past two editions.
The 21-strong group that will take the court this week would be desperate to change that statistic and make some amends after an ordinary Olympic campaign six months ago.
The expectations would be especially high from Satwik and Chirag, who claimed the doubles title in 2022, the same year in which the currently erratic Lakshya Sen notched the men's singles top honour.
The tournament will feature 18 of the world's top-20 men's singles players and 14 of the top-20 women's singles shuttlers.
Chirag and Satwik, who are former world number ones, have made a good start to the season by reaching the semifinals of the Malaysia Super 1000 last week.
Despite the Paris Games disappointment, they have emerged as India's most reliable performers over the last two years by regularly making the deep end of the draws.
They would be expected to do the same in the USD 950,000 event to be held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
Satwik and Chirag, semifinalists at the 2024 China Masters, will face Malaysia's Wei Chong Man and Kai Wun Tee in their opening round.
While the Indians have shown impressive form, they will be seeking improvement in quick rallies and service variations in a bid to better their runners-up position in the tournament last year.
However, the Indian pair will face stiff competition from top names such as China's Olympic silver-medallists Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.
Also there in the field are Paris bronze-medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen, and the Indonesian combination of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
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