Lakshya Sen will carry India’s hopes at the Malaysia Masters beginning Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, with several of the country’s top badminton stars opting to skip the BWF World Tour Super 500 event.
The Indian contingent will be without leading men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who finished runners-up at last week’s Thailand Open. Double Olympic medallist P. V. Sindhu, former world championship medallist Kidambi Srikanth, rising talents Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda, along with mixed doubles pair Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, are also absent from the tournament.
For World No. 11 Lakshya, Kuala Lumpur has not produced memorable results so far. The 24-year-old from Almora has never progressed beyond the second round at either the Malaysia Masters or the Malaysia Open Super 1000 tournament.
Lakshya begins his campaign against Indonesian teenager Mohd. Zaki Ubaidillah, the silver medallist at last year’s Junior World Championships in Guwahati. The World No. 43 is regarded as one of Indonesia’s brightest young prospects and has already claimed three BWF World Tour titles. Their opening-round clash will mark the first meeting between the two players.
Should Lakshya reach the quarterfinals for the first time in Kuala Lumpur, he could face World No. 4 Christo Popov. The two were expected to meet in the recent Thomas Cup semifinals before Lakshya withdrew due to an elbow injury.
India’s men’s singles challenge also includes H. S. Prannoy, Kiran George and Tharun Mannepalli. Prannoy, champion at the Malaysia Masters in 2023, faces a difficult opener against sixth-seeded Japanese player Kodai Naraoka, who holds a commanding 6-1 head-to-head record over the Indian veteran.
The women’s singles draw features six Indians, including promising youngsters Tanvi Sharma and Anmol Kharb. Seventeen-year-old Tanvi, currently India’s highest-ranked woman in the absence of Sindhu and Unnati, takes on Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh. Tanvi had defeated the same opponent during her impressive run to the US Open final last year.
Anmol, meanwhile, will look to bounce back after a narrow defeat to Chinese star Chen Yu Fei at the Thailand Open. The 19-year-old faces eighth-seeded Dane Line Kjaersfeldt in the opening round.
In doubles, Hariharan Amsakarunan and M. R. Arjun are India’s only men’s pair in the main draw and face the Popov brothers in the first round. With the World Championships and Asian Games approaching later this year, the coming months will be crucial for Indian players aiming to regain form and manage fitness ahead of the major events.
