Sindhu, Lakshya and Ashmita headline India’s Hylo Open campaign

P V Sindhu will lead India's challenge at the Hylo Open after finishing runner-up at the French Open. Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, H S Prannoy and Ashmita Chaliha are among the Indian shuttlers aiming to make an impact at the Super 500 tournament in Germany

Saarbrücken (Germany): Fresh from finishing runner-up at the French Open, two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu will look to maintain her strong form when she leads the Indian challenge at the USD 500,000 Hylo Open Super 500 badminton tournament, which begins here on Tuesday.

Sindhu, a former world champion, won the Japan Open title in July before reaching the final in Paris, where she lost to world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea in three games.

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The Indian will look to build on those performances when she takes on Turkey’s Neslihan Arin in the women’s singles opening round.

India’s seventh seed Lakshya Sen, the 2019 Hylo Open champion, will face Finland’s Joakim Oldorff, while eighth seed Ayush Shetty takes on Taiwan’s Su Li Yang.

Lakshya will be looking to regain consistency after a difficult run on the international circuit this season. Ayush, who finished runner-up at the Badminton Asia Championships earlier this year, made headlines at the World Championships in August by defeating defending champion and then world No. 1 Shi Yuqi of China in the opening round.

However, Ayush could not build on that result and made early exits in subsequent tournaments.

India’s H S Prannoy, a 2023 World Championships bronze medallist, faces a tough opening test against third seed and reigning world champion Alex Lanier of France.

Kiran George will meet Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei, while Tharun Mannepalli takes on sixth seed Toma Junior Popov of France.

In the women’s singles, India’s Ashmita Chaliha will look to maintain her impressive form after winning the Korea Masters title earlier this year and recording a notable victory over Japan’s three-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi at the French Open last week.

She faces Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in the opening round.

Devika Sihag faces a formidable challenge against top seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, while Aakarshi Kashyap takes on Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova.

Eighth seed Malvika Bansod will meet Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, while sixth seed Unnati Hooda faces Tereza Svabikova of the Czech Republic. Unnati will look to build on her performance at the Asian Games in Japan, where she reached the women’s singles quarter-finals.

Isharani Baruah and Anmol Kharb will compete in the women’s singles qualifying rounds.