India's top badminton players, including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, are set to participate in the upcoming Thailand Open 2023 badminton tournament, taking place from May 30 to June 4 in Bangkok.
It is the 11th tournament on the 2023 BWF World Tour and the third Super 500 event of the season, following the Indonesia Masters and Malaysia Masters.
Sindhu, the two-time Olympic medallist and currently ranked 13th in the women's singles BWF World rankings, will play the campaign opener against Canada's Michelle Li. If she progresses then she might face an old foe & Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the quarter-finals.
Her best performance in the tournament came in 2018 when she finished as runners-up after losing to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
In recent events, Sindhu reached the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2023, where she faced elimination at the hands of Gregoria Mariska Tunjung from Indonesia. Whereas, in the final of the Madrid Spain Masters 2023 last month she went down to the same opponent.
Meanwhile, Nehwal will make a much-awaited return to action since she last appeared at the Orleans Masters 2023 in April.
In the men's singles category, Kidambi Srikanth will kickstart his campaign against China's Weng Hong Yang, who recently went down to India's HS Prannoy in the final of the Malaysia Masters 2023. However, Prannoy will not be participating in the Thailand Open, despite winning the BWF World Tour title in Kuala Lumpur.
Whereas, Commonwealth Games 2022 champion Lakshya Sen, currently ranked 22nd in the world, will face a challenging opening match against Chinese Taipei's world No. 26 Wang Tzu Wei. Another rising talent, Priyanshu Rajawat, who emerged victorious at the Orleans Masters 2023, will also enter the main draw, further elevating the Indian presence in the men's singles event.
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Meanwhile, India's men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will make their much-anticipated return to the court after taking a break from the Malaysia Masters. Currently ranked fifth in the world, the duo will commence their journey in the main draw against France's Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had previously secured the Swiss Open 2023 crown in March.
Ashmita Chaliha, Malvika Bansod march into the main draw of the Thailand Open 2023
Ashmita Chaliha and Malvika Bansod in the women's singles category, and Sameer Verma and Kiran George stormed into the men's singles main draw after successfully negotiating the qualifiers.
Chaliha displayed exceptional performance in the qualifiers, defeating compatriot Unnati Hooda (21-16, 13-21, 21-19) and then got the better of Kristin Kuuba of Estonia to secure her spot in the main draw. In the upcoming match, she will face fellow Indian Bansod, who received a direct entry into the main draw after she got a bye in the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Verma defeated Yeoh Seng Zoe of Malaysia to progress to the main draw after receiving walkovers in the opening rounds against Christian Adinata of Indonesia and Luis Enrique Penalver of Spain. He will face Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in the first round of the main draw.
Kiran George won against Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin in straight games 21-10, 21-14 and then beat compatriot Kartikey Gulshan Kumar to sail into the main draw. His next opponent is Shi Yu Qi of the People's Republic of China, the third seed, in the main draw.
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Where to watch Thailand Open 2023 badminton live in India
The Thailand Open 2023 will be available on the JioCinema app as well as the Badminton World Federation’s official YouTube channel, BWF TV.
The event will be broadcast on the Sports 18-1 TV channel in India from the round of 16 onwards.
Thailand Open 2023 badminton: Indian squad
Men’s singles
Main draw: Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat, Kidambi Srikanth, B Sai Praneeth and Mithun Manjunath
Women’s singles
Main draw: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha
Men’s doubles
Main draw: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala
Women’s doubles
Main draw: Ashwini Bhat K/Shikha Gautam
Mixed doubles
Qualifiers: Venkat Gaurav Prasad/Juhi Dewangan
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