Expectations will be high when Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty spearhead the home challenge at the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament beginning here on Tuesday, hoping to annex their first silverware of the new season.

With six titles in 2023, Satwik and Chirag have been a cut above the rest of the Indians, and the runner-up finish at the Malaysia Super 1000 has only spiced things up as the Indian shuttlers look to deliver at home.

The BAI flagship tournament, which was upgraded to Super 750 in 2023, proved a dampener for home shuttlers last season when none of the Indians could cross the second round.

In the 2022 edition, Satwik-Chirag and Lakshya Sen stood on the podium with the men’s doubles and men’s singles crown and the home shuttlers will hope to once again live up to the expectations.

Satwik and Chirag have the wherewithal to go the distance this time as the duo will be charged up after coming marginally short in the final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

“We want to do well in our home country next week, so we don’t want to relax with this, we are more hungry and next week we want to do well in front of our home crowd,” Satwik said on Sunday.

Second seeds Satwik and Chirag will face world No. 25 Fang-Jen Lee and Fang-Chih Lee of Taipei in their opening round. Chirag added: “We are not done yet. India Open is coming up next week and we want to go one better.”

All eyes will also be on HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth in men’s singles, especially in the absence of two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, who is nursing a knee injury.

Axelsen pulls out

Denmark’s world No.1 Viktor Axelsen has pulled out after falling sick while playing in the Malaysia Open. “After my match on Saturday, I’ve been laying in bed ill and after talking with the medical team present here in Malaysia, I’ve been advised to get additional checkup,” wrote Axelsen on X.