Sindhu meets world No. 1 An Se-young as Denmark Open begins in Odense
Representative image: saif71 / Pixabay
Denmark Open starts in Odense on October 13, 2026: Sindhu faces world No. 1 An Se-young, Lakshya Sen meets third seed Chou Tien-chen.
What Happened
India's leading badminton players begin the Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, with some of the hardest first-round draws of the season. PV Sindhu opens her women's singles campaign against world number one and defending champion An Se-young of South Korea, a player she has never beaten. Lakshya Sen meets third seed Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei in the men's singles. The fifth-seeded men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty return to the BWF World Tour against China's He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu. The Super 750 tournament runs until Sunday, October 18.
Key Facts
- The Denmark Open is a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, played in Odense from October 13 to 18, 2026.
- PV Sindhu has lost all 10 of her previous matches against An Se-young, the world number one and defending champion.
- Lakshya Sen, a former All England runner-up, opens against third seed Chou Tien-chen.
- Satwik and Chirag are seeded fifth and face He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu of China in round one.
- Ayush Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth, the 2017 Denmark Open champion, are also in the men's singles draw.
- In women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are entered, as are sisters Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda, who open against sixth seeds Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han of China.
- Singles winners take home $66,500 and doubles champions $70,300 per pair.
Why It Matters
For Sindhu, the draw is about as hard as it gets. An Se-young has had the better of every one of their ten meetings, and she arrives as the top-ranked player in the world and the holder of this title. Sindhu does come in with a title this season, the Japan Open Super 750 in July, but she lost a three-game quarter-final to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon at last week's Arctic Open. A first win over An would be one of the most significant results of her late career; a defeat would end her week on the opening day.
Lakshya Sen faces a similar test. Chou Tien-chen is a seasoned, high-ranked opponent, and Sen has had a stop-start season disrupted by injuries. A win would give him a rare run of momentum heading into the final stretch of the year, when ranking points begin to shape seedings for the season-ending events.
The men's doubles is where India's best hopes lie. Satwik and Chirag won the Singapore Open in May and the China Masters last month, but they suffered a shock first-round exit at the Asian Games. Odense is their first chance to show that result was a blip rather than a slump. Treesa and Gayatri, meanwhile, come in as World Championships bronze medallists from August, having reached the Asian Games quarter-finals before losing to Malaysia's Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan.
| India's main draws at a glance | Opponent |
|---|---|
| PV Sindhu (women's singles) | An Se-young, South Korea, world No. 1 |
| Lakshya Sen (men's singles) | Chou Tien-chen, Chinese Taipei, third seed |
| Satwik-Chirag (men's doubles, fifth seed) | He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu, China |
| Panda sisters (women's doubles) | Bao Li Jing and Cao Zi Han, China, sixth seeds |
Impact
Short-term: Opening-day results will decide whether India has a presence in the later rounds. Losses for both Sindhu and Sen would leave the doubles pairs to carry Indian hopes into the second half of the week.
Long-term: Super 750 events carry significant ranking points. Deep runs here matter for seedings and for qualification for the season-ending World Tour Finals, which only the top players and pairs reach.
Who is affected: Indian singles and doubles players chasing ranking points, their coaches and the Badminton Association of India, and fans following India's top shuttlers in the European swing of the season.
Key Takeaway
India's top shuttlers start the Denmark Open with brutal draws, led by PV Sindhu's meeting with world number one An Se-young, a player she has lost to in all ten of their previous matches.
Questions and Answers
When and where is the Denmark Open 2026?
It is played in Odense, Denmark, from Tuesday, October 13 to Sunday, October 18, 2026. It is a Super 750 event on the BWF World Tour.
Who does PV Sindhu play in the first round?
Sindhu faces South Korea's An Se-young, the world number one and defending champion. Sindhu has lost all ten of their previous meetings.
What is India's best medal chance in Odense?
The fifth-seeded men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who won the Singapore Open in May and the China Masters last month, are India's highest seeds in the event.
How much prize money is on offer?
The singles champions each receive $66,500, and the winning doubles pairs receive $70,300, according to the published prize breakdown for the tournament.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
