Sindhu faces nemesis An Se-young, Lakshya gets Chou test at Denmark Open

Odense , Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu faces a daunting opening-round challenge against world No.1 and defending champion An Se-young as she sets out to lead the Indian challenge through a tricky draw at the USD 950,000 Denmark Open Super 750 tournament beginning here on Tuesday.

In the men's event, Lakshya Sen too has a tough one at hand as he takes on third seed Chou Tien Chen.

Sindhu, a former world champion, arrives in Denmark with mixed recent results, having won the Japan Open Super 750 title in July before reaching the quarterfinals of last week's Arctic Open, where she went down fighting against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in three games.

What the 31-year-old would be concerned about is the fact that she has lost all her 10 previous clashes against An.

In men's singles, Lakshya will be keen to rediscover his best form after an underwhelming Asian Games individual campaign. His fortunes have oscillated wildly in the past two years.

Lakshya had finished runner-up at the All England Championships for the second time earlier this year, four years after his first final appearance in 2022.

He is also the only Indian men's singles player to have reached an Olympic semi-final in 2024.

However, Lakshya has recently been hampered by a back injury. He defeated Japan's Kodai Naraoka during the quarterfinals of men's team event at the Asian Games but lost in the round of 32 in the individual competition.

He will have to find his best form when he takes on Chou, who had beaten Ayush Shetty in three games at the Asian Games.

Ayush, meanwhile, will look to build on his breakthrough performances. The Indian won the US Open Super 300 title in 2025 and made headlines at this year's World Championships by stunning the then world No. 1 Shi Yuqi.

He faces Indonesia's Alwi Farhan, who defeated him in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships.

Kidambi Srikanth, who returns to the tournament where he won the men's singles title in 2017, opens against France's Arnaud Merkle.

India's women's singles challenge also includes Tanvi Sharma, Ashmita Chaliha, Devika Sihag and Unnati Hooda.

Tanvi, who opens against Japan's Natsuki Nidaira, won her maiden BWF World Tour title at the Taipei Open in August. Ashmita, up against Bulgaria's Kaloyana Nalbantova, also arrives as a tour-level champion after winning the Korea Masters Super 300 in August.

Devika will cross swords with eighth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, while Unnati takes on China's Han Qian Xi.

Unnati impressed at the Asian Games last month, reaching the quarterfinals after beating a top-10 opponent before pushing Japan's Akane Yamaguchi to three games.

In men's doubles, former world No. 1 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to bounce back from their shock first-round exit from the Asian Games.

The Indian duo won the Singapore Open Super 750 title in May, ending a two-year wait for a tournament crown, before claiming the China Masters title last month.

The fifth seeds will open against China's He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will spearhead India's women's doubles challenge after winning a historic bronze at the World Championships in August.

They reached the Asian Games quarterfinals before losing to Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan.

At Denmark, they open against Chinese Taipei's Yan Fei Chen and Hsieh Pei Shan.

Rutaparna Panda-Swetaparna Panda is the other Indian pair in the draw and faces sixth seeds Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han of China.

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