Lakshya Sen and H.S. Prannoy, both of whom had disappointing outings at the World Championships last month, redeemed themselves in their opening round matches at the Hong Kong Open 2025. In a thrilling match at the Hong Kong Open, Lakshya Sen rallied to defeat fellow Indian H.S. Prannoy.
In other matches, PV Sindhu, a former World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist, faced an early exit in the women's singles event, losing to Danish World No. 27 Line Christopherson. Despite Sindhu's strong start, Christopherson made a comeback to win the next two games. Anupama Upadhyay was also defeated by Toma Miyazaki.
Several Indian men's singles players had a successful day at the Hong Kong Open. H.S. Prannoy defeated Lu Guang Zu, while Lakshya Sen overcame Wang Tzu Wei in their first-round matches. Qualifier Kiran George also displayed a strong performance, defeating Jason Teh of Singapore. Ayush Shetty delivered a noteworthy performance with a victory over Su Li Yang.
Lakshya Sen's match against Wang Tzu Wei was a 73-minute marathon, with Sen ultimately prevailing 22-20, 16-21, 21-15. Sen trailed for much of the first game but managed to take the lead from 16-19 down. Wang led the second game from start to finish, forcing adecider, but Sen turned the match around, going from 9-11 to 15-11 to win. H.S. Prannoy secured a straight-games victory against Lu Guang Zu of China, winning 21-17, 21-14 in 44 minutes. Kiran George defeated Jian Heng Jason Teh of Singapore in straight games in just 34 minutes. Ayush Shetty also won after coming back from behind against Su Li-yang.
Unfortunately, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto couldn't replicate their quarterfinal performance at the World Championships, losing to Chen Cheng Kuan and Hsu Yin-Hui in mixed doubles. Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda won against Hong Kong’s Oi Ki Vanessa Pang and Sum Yau Wong in women's doubles.
The head-to-head record between Lakshya Sen and H.S. Prannoy before their match at the Hong Kong Open was 5-3 in favor of Sen. Sen had also won their recent clash at the Paris Olympics. In the round of 32, Lakshya Sen defeated Wang Tzu-wei, while Prannoy defeated Lu Guangzu.
