India at Australian Badminton Open 2026: PV Sindhu Leads Medal Hopes as Lakshya Sen, Satwik-Chirag Remain Absent — Check Full Squad, Live Streaming, Prize Money and More | AFP
The BWF Australian Open Badminton 2026 got underway on June 9 in Sydney. A 24-member Indian contingent has arrived at the BWF Super 500 tournament looking for glory before they host the BWF World Championship in August. However, India will be missing some of its biggest names. Reigning men’s singles champion Lakshya Sen has chosen to skip his title defence, while former champion Kidambi Srikanth is also sitting out. Additionally, star doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrew at the last minute due to a shoulder injury sustained by Satwik at the Indonesia Open.
In the absence of Lakshya Sen, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu spearheads the Indian challenge. Seeded third in the women’s singles draw, Sindhu leads a massive line-up of eight Indian women. She is seeking to regain her peak form after a mixed season. Joining her in the main draw are exciting young talents like Anmol Kharb, Malvika Bansod, and Tanvi Sharma.
On the men’s side, veteran campaigner HS Prannoy and rising star Kiran George lead a depleted singles group. Both players suffered disappointing opening-round exits at the Indonesia Open last week and are motivated to secure deep knockout-stage appearances in Sydney.
With Satwik and Chirag out, the young pairing of MR Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan carries the mantle in the men’s doubles category. The duo has shown exceptional growth recently, fresh off a quarter-final run at the Indonesia Open. They started their campaign on a high note on opening day, securely cruising past America’s Arden Quan Lee and Stanley Xing in straight games (21-13, 21-12) to progress to the round of 16. India has no entries in the women’s doubles draw this year. Meanwhile, the mixed doubles team is led by the experienced pairing of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto.
Men’s singles: Kiran George, Tharun Mannepalli, Saneeth Dayanand (Q), Manraj Singh (Q)
Men’s doubles: MR Arjun-Hariharan Amsakarunan, Achutaditya Rao Doddavarapu-Arjun Reddy Pochana
Women’s singles: PV Sindhu, Tanvi Sharma. Malvika Bansod, Isharani Baruah, Aakarshi Kashyap, Tanya Hemnath
Mixed doubles: Dhruv Rawat-Manisha Keer, Mohit Jaglan-Lakshita Jaglan.
The Australian Badminton Open 2026 boasts a lucrative total prize purse of USD 500,000.
Singles Champions: $37,500
Singles Finalists: $19,000
Doubles Champions (per team): $39,500
Doubles Finalists (per team): $19,000
The tournament takes place from June 9 to June 14, 2026. It is being hosted at the Quaycentre (State Sports Centre) located on Olympic Boulevard in Sydney, Australia.
Indian fans can watch the live streaming of all court matches on the official BWF TV YouTube channel.
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