New Delhi, 23 February (HS): India’s campaign at the German Open Super 300 badminton tournament, beginning Tuesday, will be led by experienced shuttler Kidambi Srikanth and World Junior Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma.
Former world number one Srikanth, who won a silver medal at the 2021 World Championships, had a consistent previous season, finishing runner-up at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 and the Syed Modi International Super 300. The 31-year-old, whose ranking had slipped to 82 at one stage, has climbed back to 32 and will look to improve further to secure direct entries into higher-tier Super 750 and Super 1000 events. He will open his campaign against a qualifier.
In women’s singles, 16-year-old Tanvi Sharma, currently ranked 40 in the world, will face Malaysia’s Wong Ling Ching in the opening round. Earlier this season, Tanvi stretched world number two Wang Zhi Yi and world number 12 Tomoka Miyazaki to three games at the India Open and Indonesia Masters. She also registered a notable win over world number 17 Busanan Ongbamrungphan at the Asia Badminton Team Championships.
Tanvi has maintained steady form since late last year, finishing runner-up at the Guwahati Masters Super 100 and the 2025 US Open Super 300, and reaching the semifinals of the Syed Modi International Super 300.
World number 51 Malvika Bansod will play her sixth tournament of the year after recovering from a serious knee injury suffered during the Indonesia Open in June 2025. She will take on Denmark’s Line Højmark Kjærsfeldt in the first round.
World number 45 Isharani Baruah, who reached the quarterfinals of the Thailand Masters Super 300 and finished runner-up at the Odisha Masters 2025, will face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong. Tasnim Mir is set for a tough opening match against top seed Wang Zhi Yi of China.
In men’s singles, Kiran George will play France’s Christo Popov, while Tharun Mannepalli will take on Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei.
In the qualifying round, Aakarshi Kashyap will face Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po.
In women’s doubles, the Indian pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam will compete against Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Yin Hui and Lin Jhih Yun.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
