Bangkok, May 12: Young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Unnati Hooda will look to build on their recent impressive run, while Lakshya Sen will be eager to regain his rhythm during the Thailand Open Super 500 badminton tournament which gets underway here on Tuesday.
Ayush, 20, and 17-year-old Unnati had reached the semifinals of the Taipei Open Super 300 last week, but they will have to navigate the qualifying rounds to make it to the main draw here.
While Ayush will take on Finland’s Joakim Oldorff in his opening qualifying match, Unnati faces Thailand’s Thamonwan Nithiittikrai in the women’s singles qualifiers.
Sen, on the other hand, will open his campaign against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the main draw. The former Commonwealth Games champion will be keen to test his fitness, having missed out on playing any matches at the Sudirman Cup due to an injury.
Priyanshu Rajawat, another rising talent, has struggled for consistency and will hope for a strong showing when he begins his campaign against Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan.
In women’s singles, Malvika Bansod – a finalist at the 2022 Syed Modi International and the 2023 Hylo Open, both Super 300 events – will face Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit in her opening match in the main draw.
Former national champion Anupama Upadhyaya, who beat England’s Miu Lin Ngan in the Sudirman Cup, will have a tough task against Thailand’s former world champion Ratchanok Intanon in her opening round.
Rakshita Ramraj will open against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min, while Aakarshi Kashyap will face Japan’s Kaoru Sugiyama.
In men’s singles, former world number one Kidambi Srikanth, currently ranked 82nd, will continue his comeback trail. He faces fellow Indian S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian – a player he defeated last week in Taipei – in the qualifiers.
Sathish Karunakaran and Tharun Mannepalli are also in the fray in the men’s singles qualifiers.
In the women’s qualifiers, Ira Sharma is the only other Indian in the fray, alongside Unnati.
Meanwhile, world No. 10 women’s doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are set to return after missing the Sudirman Cup due to injuries. The duo, who broke into the top-10 last year, were forced to take a break due to a back injury to Gayatri and a shoulder issue to Treesa.
They will face the Malaysian pair of Ong Xin Yee and Carmen Ting in the opening round of the main draw.
In doubles, India will also have representation in the men’s pair of Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek K, and the women’s duo of Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi. (PTI)
