PV Sindhu will look to build on her at the Hylo Open, which starts on Tuesday. Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty, on the other hand, aim to overcome their early setbacks at the Super 500 event in Saarbrucken, Germany.
The tournament carries total prize money of USD 500,000. Defending men’s and women’s singles champions Jonatan Christie and Mia Blichfeldt will start as the favourites.
Sindhu arrives at the tournament after a hard-fought defeat to world No. 1 An Se Young at the French Open final on Sunday. The Indian shuttler could not capitalise on her opening-game lead, suffering a 16-21, 21-11, 21-12 loss to Young, who won her 10th title of the season in Paris. It was Sindhu’s 11th consecutive defeat to the Korean youngster. Young will not compete at the Hylo Open.
Despite the defeat in the final, Sindhu had an otherwise remarkable campaign. She beat Supanida Katethong, Riko Gunji, Chiu Pin-Chian and Hina Akechi en route to the final.
This year’s Hylo Open marks Sindhu’s return to the event after she missed the 2025 edition due to a foot injury.
While all eyes will be on Sindhu, Indian fans will also hope to see Ashmita Chaliha make a deep run in the tournament. The 27-year-old Assamese shuttler registered the biggest win of her career at the French Open when she defeated world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi 21-19, 21-18 in 37 minutes in the Round of 16.
It was their second meeting, and Ashmita avenged her defeat to Yamaguchi at previous week’s Denmark Open. Ashmita, however, lost to Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals. She won her maiden World Tour title at the Korea Masters Super 300 this year.
In the men’s singles discipline, Lakshya’s target will be to make a deep run in the tournament. Since finishing runner-up at the All England Open in March, Lakshya’s campaigns have been cut short in the first round in most tournaments. Apart from two tournaments in which he advanced to the quarterfinals, his performances this season have reflected his struggles to regain his rhythm. Lakshya is seeded seventh in the tournament.
Another Indian in the fray is Ayush Shetty, the eighth seed. Ayush defeated fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth in the Round of 32 at the French Open but retired hurt during his Round of 16 clash against Kodai Naraoka.
Both Indians will face stiff competition, with the event featuring top players such as Anders Antonsen, Christo Popov, Alex Lanier, defending champion Christie, Naraoka and Toma Junior Popov.
Indian badminton contingent for the Hylo Open 2026:
Men’s singles: Ayush Shetty, Tharun Mannepalli, HS Prannoy, Kiran George, Lakshya Sen, Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian (qualifying)
Women’s singles: Devika Sihag, Aakarshi Kashyap, Malvika Bansod, Isharani Baruah, Unnati Hooda, Anmol Kharb, Ashmita Chaliha, P.V. Sindhu, Meghana (qualifying)