New Delhi, May 19 (H.S.): Lakshya Sen will spearhead India’s challenge at the Malaysia Masters 2026, which begins today (Tuesday) in Kuala Lumpur. However, several prominent Indian shuttlers will be absent from this edition of the tournament.

India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, rising talents Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda have all opted out of the BWF World Tour Super 500 event.

World No. 11 Lakshya Sen has not enjoyed much success in Kuala Lumpur so far. He has never progressed beyond the second round at either the Malaysia Masters or the Malaysia Open. In the opening round, he will face Indonesia’s young talent Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, who won the silver medal at the previous World Junior Championships.

Should Lakshya advance to the quarter-finals, he could potentially face World No. 4 Christo Popov.

In men’s singles, India will also be represented by HS Prannoy, Kiran George and Tharun Mannepalli. Prannoy, who won this tournament in 2023, faces a difficult opening-round clash against Japan’s sixth seed Kodai Naraoka.

In women’s singles, India’s challenge will be led by Devika Sihag, Tanvi Sharma, Anmol Kharb, Malvika Bansod, Isharani Baruah and Tanya Hemanth.

Special attention will be on 17-year-old Tanvi Sharma, who will take on Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh in the first round. Tanvi had defeated the Thai shuttler at last year’s US Open.

Meanwhile, Anmol Kharb also remains in focus. Last week in Bangkok, she squandered an 11-2 lead in the deciding game against China’s World No. 4 Chen Yufei. This time, she faces Denmark’s eighth seed Line Kjaersfeldt in the opening round.

In men’s doubles, India’s second-seeded pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun are the only Indian duo in the draw. They will face France’s combination of Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov in the first round.

In women’s doubles, the Indian pairs of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam, along with Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, will be in action.

In mixed doubles, the Indian challenge will be represented by Rohan Kapoor and Rutvika Gadde, alongside the pair of Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh.

The upcoming three months are considered extremely important for Indian shuttlers as they prepare for the World Championships scheduled in August and the Asian Games set to be held during September and October.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar