Indian badminton stars PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen celebrated victories in their respective singles categories at the Syed Modi India International badminton tournament in Lucknow on Sunday. Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu ended a two-year BWF World Tour title drought by defeating China’s Wu Luo Yu in the women’s singles final.
Expressing her joy, Sindhu said, “Really happy to have won the title.” In the title clash lasting 47 minutes, Sindhu dominated Luo Yu with a straight-game victory, 21-14, 21-16. This is Sindhu’s first BWF title since winning the Singapore Open in July 2022. Though she had reached the finals of the Spain Masters and Malaysia Masters in 2023 and 2024, she fell short of clinching the trophy in both events.
In the men’s singles, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen delivered a commanding performance to defeat Singapore’s Jason Teh 21-6, 21-7 in just 31 minutes. “The crowd support was very good… I am very happy that I won. My aim is to perform well in upcoming tournaments,” Sen remarked after his win. This victory marked Lakshya’s first BWF World Tour title since his Canada Open win in 2022. The tournament also brought success in doubles as Indian duo Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand secured the women’s doubles title. They defeated the Chinese pair of Bao Li Jing and Li Qian 21-18, 21-11 in a match lasting 41 minutes. This is their first BWF title in two years since winning the Odisha Open in 2022.
However, India fell short in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals. In the mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran 21-18, 14-21, 8-21. Despite a strong start by winning the first game, they could not sustain momentum in the subsequent games. In the men’s doubles final, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K were defeated by China’s Huang Di and Liu Yang 14-21, 21-19, 17-21. The Indian pair staged a comeback in the second game to force a decider but faltered in the final set.
India’s mixed results at the Syed Modi International highlighted both individual brilliance and areas for improvement in doubles. As the nation celebrated Sindhu, Sen, and the women’s doubles team’s wins, the focus now shifts to preparing for upcoming tournaments.
