Swiss Open 2025: India's rising star Sankar Subramanian who knocked out World No. 2 Anders Antonsen

In one of the biggest upsets of the Swiss Open 2025, India’s Sankar Subramanian Muthusamy secured the most noteworthy victory of his senior career, defeating World No. 2 Anders Antonsen in the pre-quarterfinals of the Super 300 tournament on Thursday, 20 March. The 21-year-old came from behind to claim a thrilling 18-21, 21-12, 21-5 win in a 57-minute battle.

Sankar showed his mettle against the experienced Danish shuttler in his Round of 16 match in Basel. Antonsen, a three-time World Championships medallist, started strong, mounting a late comeback in the opening game to edge out the Indian 21-18. However, Sankar regrouped quickly to register a dominant 21-12 and 21-5 scorelines in the next two sets.

Who is Sankar Subramanian?

Sankar Subramanian Muthusamy is an emerging Indian badminton player from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He made a name for himself on the junior circuit before transitioning to the senior level. At the age of 17, he reached the finals of the senior tournament at the 2021 Uganda International. A former junior World No. 1, Sankar rose to prominence with a silver medal at the 2022 BWF World Junior Championships held in Spain’s Santander.

Sankar has steadily climbed the BWF rankings, registering strong performances in Super 300 and Super 500 tournaments at an young age of just 21. His victory over Antonsen at the 2025 Swiss Open is the biggest win of his career. Having trained under childhood coach Aravind Samiappan, Sankar is now aiming to establish himself as a regular on the BWF World Tour.

Sankar’s achievements

World Junior Championships

• 2022 (Santander, Spain): Silver medalist (Lost to Kuo Kuan-lin of Chinese Taipei 14-21, 20-22)

BWF International Challenge/Series

• 2021 Uganda International: Runner-up (Lost to Varun Kapur 18-21, 21-16, 17-21)

• 2023 Luxembourg Open: Winner (Defeated Ade Resky Dwicahyo 21-11, 21-19)

• 2023 Scottish Open: Runner-up (Lost to Mads Christophersen 16-21, 14-21)

BWF Junior International

• 2021 Russian Junior International: Winner (Defeated Saneeth Dayanand Shimoga 21-10, 21-13)

• 2022 Iran Junior International: Winner (Defeated Ali Hayati 21-17, 21-17)

Sankar falls in the quarterfinals

Despite his remarkable triumph over Antonsen, Sankar Subramanian’s Swiss Open journey ended in the quarterfinals against France’s Christo Popov. The Indian shuttler struggled to replicate his previous form, falling 10-21, 14-21 in straight games to World No. 31.

This marks Sankar’s second quarterfinal appearance at a Super 300 event this year, having reached the last eight at the Thailand Masters in January. He lost to China’s Zhu Xuan Chen in the quarterfinals by 21-19, 18-21, 13-21.