Swiss Open 2025: India's Sankar Subramanian stuns World No. 2 shutler to reach QFs

Indian shuttler Sankar Subramanian Muthusamy produced the biggest win of his career at the Swiss Open 2025, stunning World No. 2 Anders Antonsen in a three-game thriller to advance to the quarterfinals of the Super 300 tournament in Basel. The 21-year-old, ranked World No. 64, made a remarkable comeback after losing the first game, winning 18-21, 21-12, 21-5 in a 66-minute battle on Thursday.

Sankar, a former junior World No. 1, started strong and led 16-14 in the opening game but saw Antonsen fight back to take the first set. However, the young Indian responded with a brilliant defensive performance, forcing errors from his Danish opponent and dominating the second game. Sankar built an 18-9 lead before sealing the game comfortably.

The deciding game was one-sided, with Sankar completely outplaying Antonsen. The Chennai-born shuttler raced to an 11-3 lead at the interval and never allowed his higher-ranked rival a chance to recover. With a commanding 21-5 finish, he secured his first-ever victory over a top-10 player in the senior circuit.

Sankar, who won a silver medal at the 2022 World Junior Championships, entered the Swiss Open as a qualifier and has now reached the quarterfinals of a Super 300 event for the second time in 2025. In January, he had made the last eight at the Thailand Masters. His next challenge will be World No. 31 Christo Popov of France in the quarterfinals on Friday.

While Sankar’s victory was the highlight for India, the tournament also saw setbacks. Kidambi Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat were eliminated in the second round. Kidambi, who had defeated HS Prannoy in the opening round, lost to China’s World No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games 15-21, 11-21 in just 40 minutes. Priyanshu Rajawat also crashed out, losing 21-15, 21-17 to France’s Toma Popov in 47 minutes.

However, there was good news in women’s doubles, as Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly continued their impressive run. The Indian pair defeated Germany’s Amelie Lehmann and Selin Hbsch in straight games to enter the quarterfinals, keeping India’s hopes alive in the tournament.