India Open 2026: KW's daughter back in action against An Se-young

JAKARTA - Putri Kusuma Wardani again met with world number one shuttler An Se-young when she tried to win her first title this season at the 2026 India Open.

The 23-year-old athlete qualified for the quarterfinals after defeating Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (Denmark) in a three-game match 15-21, 21-9, and 21-18 at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

"Line is enough to play well today, with the attacks he has, he uses it to make it difficult for me. He tries to limit the ball above and dominate the half of the field in front," Putri said in a statement received.

Putri faced a very dominant game from her opponent in the front area of the net in the first game. The accuracy of Line's attack that targeted the corners of the field made Putri's defense shaky so that she had to give up the opening game.

In the second game, it was Putri's turn to perform unstoppable. He led from the start and did not give his opponent the opportunity to comfortably score points.

The match was tense at the end of the third game. After reaching the match point, Putri was able to lower the tension of the game which became a gap for the opponent, but fortunately he was not overtaken.

This result extends the sweet record of the Princess against Line. From a total of six clashes on the competitive field, she managed to secure four victories.

"Tomorrow I meet An Se-young, I will try to bring out all the games I have. Hopefully the luck can beat him tomorrow," said the Tangerang-born badminton player.

On paper, Putri has a bad record against An Se-young. In the previous seven clashes, he has never won, but could force a three-game match in their last meeting at the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals.

Putri is the second Indonesian representative to qualify for the quarterfinals of this BWF Super 750 level event. He followed in the footsteps of Jonatan Christie's men's singles.