Star shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will look to regain their competitive edge as they lead the Indian challenge in the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament, which begins in Bangkok on Tuesday. The top-ranked Indian pair, who are one of the favorites for gold at the Paris Olympics, found it a little difficult to negotiate the variety of serves on offer from the Indonesians and Chinese at the Thomas Cup. Both shuttlers will be looking to address the slight drop in their level this week , when they begin their campaign against Malaysians Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn and Tan Wee Kiong.
With Olympic-bound shuttlers looking to hone their skills ahead of the Paris Games, the BWF World Tour events will provide the perfect platform for them to test out new shots or tweaks they make to their games.
India’s top singles player HS Prannoy, a bronze medalist at the World Championships and Asian Games, will also have to find his best position after having health issues this season.
His victory over Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting boosted his confidence, but the loss to China’s Shi Yuqi will bother him as he needs to close out such close games to get into top mental shape ahead of the Olympics.
Kiran George and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran are also at loggerheads, while Lakshya Sen and PV Sindhu withdrew before the draw was announced last week.
While Kiran will face Australian Open winner Weng Hong Yang of China, Sathish, who won the Odisha Masters title last December, faces a qualifier in their respective opening matches.
In Sindhu’s absence, Ashmita Chaliha, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap will look to keep India’s flag flying with a solid performance in the women’s singles.
The Guwahati shuttler will face Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo of Indonesia, while Malvika will face China’s Han Yue and Aakarshi will face Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.
Youngsters Unnati Hooda and Imad Farooqui Samiya are also hoping to put on a good show when they take on Belgium’s Lianne Tan and China’s Goa Fang Jie.
In women’s doubles, the fourth Indian pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who qualified for the Paris games, will also be in contention but will begin their campaign in the second round after receiving a bye.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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