Drop shot in Sydney: On Indian badminton.
Lakshya Sen’s win also draws attention to the gaps in India’s supply line of stars.
For Indian badminton, 2025 has been a tough year. Successes have been fleeting, top players’ form has undulated and serious questions have been asked of not just the established but also the young and upcoming. But for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s doubles bronze at the World Championships in Paris in August, there has been precious little. Against this backdrop, Lakshya Sen’s triumph at the Australian Open on Sunday has come like a breath of fresh air. It was not the toughest of fields and the tournament — a BWF Super 500, third in the sport’s hierarchy after Super 1000 and 750 — is not pedigreed. But it was no low-hanging fruit either, for Lakshya had to spend long hours on court, including in the come-from-behind semi-final victory over World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen. The title was the 24-year-old’s first since the Syed Modi International Super 300 last December, and the first outside India since the Canada Open Super 500 in July 2023. Ever since the disappointment of losing the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal match from a dominant position, Lakshya has endured difficult times. Injuries and a spate of early exits — 11 in the first round this year alone — had sent him tumbling down. But a trophy in his last act of 2025 should give him the required fillip.
Whether this acts as a springboard for other Indians in 2026 remains to be seen. Apart from Satwiksairaj and Chirag, no other Indian is ranked in the top 10 of any badminton discipline. Since July 2022, P.V. Sindhu has just one Tour title to show — the Syed Modi International last December. H.S. Prannoy, who bagged a men’s singles bronze at the 2023 Worlds and soared to No. 6, is now down to 35. Worryingly, the supply line of stars appears to have undergone a rupture. Ayush Shetty, 20, winning the U.S. Open Super 300, and Tanvi Sharma, 16, finishing with a silver medal in girls’ singles at the World Junior Championships, are noteworthy achievements indeed. But no junior has stormed the scene and plugged the gap seamlessly like how Sindhu once did after Saina Nehwal. The Badminton Association of India appears to be mindful of this, as seen from the setting up of the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati to train the next generation. India is also betting big on hosting international competitions of repute to burnish its credentials as an elite badminton nation. After the 2025 World Juniors in Guwahati, the 2026 World Championships is scheduled to be held in Delhi. If India can assemble a battery of medal challengers, it would be akin to a resurrection.