🏸 YEAR-END REVIEW – SPORTS ARENA SPECIAL

BADMINTON 🏸

2025 was a transitional year for Indian badminton, marked by emerging talents securing titles, consistent deep runs from established players, and challenges like injuries and inconsistency for veterans.

Below are the performances from senior athletes this year.

Senior Circuit Highlights

🔥 Chirag Shetty & Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (SatChi)

The Indian #1 Men’s Doubles pair started the year with back-to-back semifinal finishes at the Malaysian Open and Indian Open. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the duo missed many tournaments and dropped to World Ranking No. 27 by June.

They faced a tough draw at the World Championships, meeting Olympic 🥈 Liang/Wang 🇨🇳 in the Round of 16 and Olympic 🥉 Chia/Soh 🇲🇾 in the quarterfinals. They overcame both hurdles to become the first Indian doubles pair to win multiple medals at the World Championships, ensuring India returned with a Worlds medal for the first time since 2011.

The pair enjoyed a strong second half of the season:

Semifinals: China Open, Denmark Open
Runners-up: Hong Kong Open, China Masters

On the back of these results, they qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals. Drawn into a challenging group with Liang/Wang 🇨🇳, Chia/Soh 🇲🇾, and Alfian/Fikri 🇮🇩, they beat all three pairs to finish top of the group. Although they fell in the semifinals, they earned USD 60,000 in prize money and rose to World Ranking No. 3.

⭐ Lakshya Sen

Paris Olympics semifinalist Lakshya Sen had a slow start to the year with multiple first-round exits, but rediscovered form in the second half of the season.

Key Results:

Semifinals: Kumamoto Masters, Macau Open
Runner-up: Hong Kong Open
Champion: Australian Open

🚀 Ayush Shetty

Former Junior World Championships medallist Ayush Shetty became the first Indian to win a World Tour title in 2025, clinching the US Open Super 300.

Additional highlights:

Semifinals: Orleans Masters, Taipei Open
Notable wins over Kodai Naraoka and Loh Kean Yew

🌟 Tanvi Sharma

Tanvi Sharma emerged as one of India’s most promising young talents in 2025.

Highlights:

Runner-up: US Open
Bronze: Asian Junior Championships
Junior World Championships (Home):
- Team Bronze
- Individual Silver

She registered notable victories over former World Champion Nozomi Okuhara 🇯🇵, Thuy Linh Nguyen 🇻🇳, and Hina Akechi 🇯🇵.

She concluded the season with:

Semifinal: Syed Modi International
Runner-up: Guwahati Masters

🏸 Other Notable Performances

P. V. Sindhu defeated 2nd seed Wang Zhi Yi 🇨🇳 in the Round of 16 at the World Championships and narrowly missed out on a historic sixth Worlds medal after a quarterfinal loss.
Dhruv Kapila / Tanisha Crasto upset two-time World Championships medallists Tang/Tse 🇭🇰 at the World Championships before losing to eventual champions Chen/Toh 🇲🇾.
Unnati Hooda reached a career-high World Ranking No. 23, winning the Odisha Masters and making semifinal appearances at the Syed Modi International, Hylo Open, and Taipei Open.
For the first time, five different Indian players/pairs reached the quarterfinals of the Junior World Championships:
- Tanvi Sharma
- Unnati Hooda
- Gnana Dattu Talasila
- Bhargav Arigela / Viswatej Gobburu
- Bhavya Chhabra / Vishakha Toppo

♿ Para-Badminton Excellence

India enjoyed a standout year in para-badminton, displaying depth across senior and youth categories.

🏆 Asian Para-Badminton Championships

India Medals: 27 (4 🥇 | 10 🥈 | 13 🥉) — Best-ever performance

Key Performers:

Nitesh Kumar:
- 🥇 Men’s Singles SL3
- 🥇 Mixed Doubles SL3–SU5 (with Thulasimathi Murugesan)
- 🥇 Men’s Doubles SL3–SL4 (with Sukant Kadam)
Manisha Ramadass:
- 🥇 Women’s Singles SU5

🔁 Pramod Bhagat – Comeback Season

Triple Gold: Japan Para Badminton International
Triple Gold: Abia Para Badminton International
Double Gold: Australian Para Badminton International

🔮 Looking Ahead

The road to 2026 is filled with confidence and ambition as India prepares for the Asian Games and gears up to host the BWF World Championships on home soil.

✍️ Credits

Original Analysis & Coverage: Sports Arena
Original Post: Year-End Review – Badminton (2025)

Adapted and formatted for digital publishing.