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Following the North American swing, the badminton action returns to Asia with the Korea Open, scheduled to be held in Yeosu, South Korea, from July 18-23. The Super 500 tournament has attracted the cream of the sport who will vie for the top honors at the Jinnam Stadium over the course of the week.
The Indian contingent will be led by PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy, while Canada Open champion Lakshya Sen has pulled out after a hectic couple of weeks in America.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu will hope to find her winning touch on her return to a tournament she won in 2017. Her best performance so far this season has been a runner-up finish at the Madrid Spain Masters in April.
She is coming off a decent campaign in North America, where she made the semi-finals at the Canada Open and the quarter-finals at the US Open. However, a title has continued to elude the former world champion.
Armed with new coach Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, a former All England champion, the shuttle queen will be keen to rediscover the form that has brought her laurels in the past.
The World No. 17 will start her challenge against Chinese Taipei’s 22nd-ranked Pai Yu Po. With third seed and reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei looming in the second round, Sindhu needs to hit top gear pretty quickly in this tournament.
HS Prannoy, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Monday, returns to competition for the first time since his quarterfinal exit from the Taipei Open in June. Seeded fifth at the Korea Open, the World No. 10 has Belgium's Julien Carraggi first up.
The Malaysia Masters champion is one of three Indian men's singles winners this year.
Meanwhile, in a battle of former World No. 1s, Kidambi Srikanth and Kento Momota face off in the first round. This is Srikanth's first tournament since joining forces with new coach Wiempie Mahardi, a former top-25 player.
Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat will take the court against Korean qualifier Choi Ji Hoon. Mithun Manjunath faces NG Tze Yong while Kiran George has drawn Wang Tzu Wei.
Among the women, Tasnim Mir, Ashmita Chaliha, Aakarshi Kashyap, Tanya Hemanth, and Malvika Bansod will also be seen in action in the main draw apart from Sindhu. They will square off against Kim Ga Eun, Chen Yu Fei, Zhang Yi Man, Saena Kawakami, and fourth seed Tai Tzu Ying, respectively.
In the men's doubles section, India's title hopes will lie on the sensational Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty. The duo has already claimed titles at the Indonesia Open, the Swiss Open and the Badminton Asia Championships this year.
The third seeds have already made a winning start with a 21-16, 21-14 triumph over Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren on Tuesday, July 18.
MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, however, had to retire from their first-round encounter with eighth seeds Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi.
In women's doubles, India's sole pair of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand have got a walkover into the second round.
In mixed doubles, India will be represented by Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy/Rohan Kapoor. While the former kickstart their quest against Koreans Song Hyun Cho/Lee Jung Hyun, the latter have Supak Jomkoh/Supissara Paewsampran in their Korea Open opener.
Korea Open 2023: Schedule
Qualifying: July 18, 2023
First round: July 18-19, 2023
Second round: July 20, 2023
Quarter-finals: July 21, 2023
Semi-finals: July 22, 2023
Finals: July 23, 2023
Matches for the first few days are likely to start at 10 am local time/ 6.30 am IST.
Korea Open 2023: Telecast channel list in India
The Korea Open 2023 will be broadcast live in India on the Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels from Thursday, July 20. The matches will also be shown on Jio Cinema.
Live streaming will be available on YouTube on BWF.TV as well. Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software throughout the tournament.
Full list of Indian contingent playing at Korea Open 2023 (Main draw)
Men's singles: HS Prannoy, Kidambi Srikanth, Priyanshu Rajawat, Mithun Manjunath, Kiran George
Women's singles: PV Sindhu, Tasnim Mir, Ashmita Chaliha, Aakarshi Kashyap, Tanya Hemanth, Malvika Bansod
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun
Women's doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand
Mixed doubles: Sumeeth Reddy/Ashwini Ponnappa, Sikki Reddy/Rohan Kapoor
