PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen handed tough draws at Denmark Open
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen were handed difficult draws at the Denmark Open in Odense, beginning on Tuesday, with Sindhu drawn against World No.1 An Se-young and Lakshya facing third seed Chou Tien Chen.
Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion, comes into the Super 750 event after a quarter-final exit at last week’s Arctic Open where she lost in three games to Ratchanok Intanon. The 31-year-old won the Japan Open Super 750 title in July but has lost all 10 of her previous meetings with An Se-young. The Denmark Open draw therefore pairs her immediately against a player she has not beaten in their series to date.
Lakshya Sen’s first-round assignment pits him against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei after the Indian exited the Asian Games individual event in the round of 32. He had earlier beaten Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the men’s team quarter-finals at the Asian Games but failed to replicate that form in the individual draw. The article notes a back injury has disrupted Lakshya’s recent run.
The piece records Lakshya’s recent career highlights: he finished runner-up at the All England Championships earlier this year, reaching the final for the second time after his maiden appearance in 2022, and “became the first Indian men's singles player to reach the Olympic semi-finals at the Paris Games in 2024.” Chou’s recent form is noted with a victory over Ayush Shetty in three games at the Asian Games.
Ayush Shetty will open his Denmark campaign against Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, who defeated him in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships. The file recalls Ayush’s 2025 US Open Super 300 title and his victory over then world No. 1 Shi Yuqi at this year’s World Championships as context for his selection and draw.
Former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth returns to the Denmark Open, where he won the men’s singles title in 2017, and is scheduled to play France’s Arnaud Merkle in the opening round. India will have four additional entrants in women’s singles: Tanvi Sharma faces Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira after winning her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Taipei Open in August; Ashmita Chaliha meets Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova after winning the Korea Masters Super 300 in August; Devika Sihag draws eighth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand; and Unnati Hooda opens against China’s Han Qian Xi.
In men’s doubles, fifth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who suffered a shock first-round exit at the Asian Games, will begin against China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu after earlier winning the Singapore Open Super 750 in May and the China Masters last month. Women’s doubles representatives Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, bronze medallists at the World Championships in August who reached the Asian Games quarter-finals before losing to Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan, face Chinese Taipei’s Yan Fei Chen and Hsieh Pei Shan. Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda are drawn against sixth seeds Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han of China.
The Denmark Open Super 750 tournament begins at Odense on Tuesday, where the Indian players named above will start their campaigns against the opponents listed in the draw.