India's men's doubles duo retires injured at Japan Open

India's campaign at the Japan Open Super 750 badminton tournament in Tokyo began with a significant setback on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, as the nation's top men's doubles pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, were forced to retire from their opening match due to injury. The world No. 4 duo, seeded third, were making their return to competition for the first time since withdrawing from the Indonesia Open in June. After dropping a narrowly contested first game 21-19 to Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard, the Indian pair decided not to continue, with Satwik experiencing a recurrence of a shoulder injury that has sidelined them for the past month. This latest withdrawal also rules the reigning Asian Games champions out of next week's China Open as they now focus on preparing for the BWF World Championships in India next month.

In contrast, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu delivered a commanding performance to advance in the women's singles draw. The world No. 10 defeated Malaysia's Wong Ling Ching 21-14, 21-11 in 35 minutes, capitalizing on unforced errors and maintaining momentum throughout the match to secure her third career win against the Malaysian...