India Open 2025 – Men’s Singles Draw and Predictions!

The India Open Men’s singles draw is missing three stars and one local hopeful. Anders Antonsen and Shi Yu Qi are both missing in India after their final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Lee Zi Jia is still out with his ankle injury, and Anthony Ginting, who picked up a hand injury, is also out. Srikanth Kidambi and Kiran George have been called up from the reserves.

This has moved the draw around significantly.

Vitidsarn, previously the fourth seed is moved to the first seed placement. This has created a re-run of the Malaysia open first round Alex Lanier vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Our pick for a rivalry coming true quicker than we imagined. The European players have a strong compulsion for revenge. At least it is more obvious to see on court with the likes of Mia Blichfeldt, Carolina Marin, and Anders Antonsen openly showing displeasure and aggression on court. This will be the case here in India. Alex Lanier will want revenge, especially from such a close match in Malaysia. We think he will get it!

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Second seed Jonatan Christie will want revenge for his first-round exit to Toma jr Popov at the Malaysia Open. Christie has quite a favourable draw to the semi-final where he would likely face Axelsen. Axelsen himself will want to put the Malaysia open behind him after a similar first-round loss to Cheuk Yiu Lee. Many are putting that down to fatigue and jet lag caused by Axelsen’s late arrival in Kuala Lumpur. Which of these heavy hitters will deal best with the set-back from last week?

The other seeds in India do not inspire confidence. Kodai Naraoka showed promise in the Malaysia Open last week, reaching the semi-final. We can see him making the quarter-final in India where he will likely be knocked out by Viktor Axelsen who has a 6-0 H2H against him.

The fifth seed, Li Shi Feng of China, will face Leong Jun Hao of Malaysia in the first round. Shi Feng has a 4-0 H2H over his Malay opposition. The only question is whether he has recovered from his Semifinal run in Kuala Lumpur or whether the recent progress of Leong Jun Hao is enough to turn the tide. Even if he does get past Jun Hao we feel he will be stopped in the quarter-final by a charged-up Alex Lanier.

Chou Tiou Chen is the final seed in India. A first-round draw against Brian Yang isn’t easy but Chou’s 6-1 H2H speaks volumes. His route to the semi-final is straightforward. We would expect to see him there. He did lift the Arctic Open title last year so does have recent success. It will hugely depend on who he meets in the semifinal and final. A final against Christie, my money is on Chou, a final against Axelsen my money is on the Dane.

My money goes on Viktor Axelsen to put his mistake in Kuala Lumur right and lift the title in Delhi!

An outside favourite for winning India Open 2025?

There are a few options for one’s to watch in the men’s singles draw, players that can overachieve or surprise people. Lanier will want to repay Vitidsarn for his loss in Kuala Lumpur to even up the H2H. Alex Lanier is capable and will have a new game plan after their first match in Kuala Lumpur. We can see Alex Lanier going to the semis here in India which would be a great overachievement for his ranking.

Toma Jr Popov could also have a good run here in the easier top half of the draw. He played well in the Malaysia Open but couldn’t follow up his win against Christie, losing in the 2nd round. He will be eagre to put that right in India.

Chiuk Yu Lee had the biggest upset in Kuala Lumpur beating Axelsen, was that brilliance from Lee or just a bad day for Viktor? He will also want to show it was his brilliance that gave him that victory and made Viktor look so poor.

Jun Hao Leong would be the other player to look at. A strong finish to 2024 with a finals defeat at the Kumamoto Masters in Japan and wins over top 15 players. He has an opportunity while Lee Zi Jia is out injured to become the front man for Malaysian badminton. He had a poor performance in Kuala Lumpur but many Malayisa players can’t deal well with the home town pressure. Galhi is where his season starts.

My pick for an outside favourite would be Toma jr Popov. He is gaining momentum under the guidance of his father. Their training group are having some good success now which we think will breed more success.

Home town favourites at the India Open 2025?

We are still waiting for one of the Indian players to really make an impact on the tour. HS Prannoy has been the top Indian player but was outshone by Sen Lakshya at the Paris Olympics. Since then Prannoy hasn’t played any event. Lakshya has only won a weak 300 event, the Syed Modi, with a quarter final finish the only other highlight at the China Masters. The only top player Lakshya beat in this time was Lee Zi Jia, for a player that wants to be number one and winning titles that isn’t good enough.

The young hopeful Priyanshu Rajawat has performed similarly poorly. A 3rd placed finish at the Syed Modi is the unfortunate highlight alongside a 3rd place finish at the Canadian Open, pre-Olympics. He did have a good win against Anders Antonsen but he more commonly loses in the R32 in the main tour events.