Thailand Open badminton preview: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lead Indian challenge in BWF World Tour Super 500 event

The BWF World Tour moves to Bangkok for the Thailand Open as the Super 500 event begins on Tuesday, May 14, with the qualifiers. The event comes on the back of the Thomas and Uber Cup and is missing many of the big names of the sport.

The top seed in the men's singles draw is Denmark's Anders Antonsen while the women's singles draw is led by China's Han Yue. India's leading men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are seeded at the top of their division.

PV Sindhu won't be in action following her absence from the Uber Cup. In men's singles, Indian challenge will be led by HS Prannoy, who is set to represent his country in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are also absent from the draw. India's women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayathri Gopichand is also not present in the Thai capital. Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa will be in action and are seeded fourth in the competition.

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India's prospects in Thailand Open badminton

For Indian fans, the focus will be on the top-seeded pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The duo had a tough Thomas Cup as India failed to defend their title, not managing to reach even the semifinals.

In the Thailand Open, the Indian pair have an easy route to the final. There is no other prominent doubles pair in their half of the draw.

In the other half, there are two leading pairs from Indonesia. Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana are seeded second and may face Satwik-Chirag in the final.

The other strong Indonesian pair is Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. The two Indonesian teams might collide in the quarterfinals.

In the men's singles division, HS Prannoy will start his campaign against a qualifier. In the second round, he may run into compatriot Kiran George. World Champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn might run into him in the quarterfinals.

If Prannoy gets past him, he may face another World Champion, Loh Kean Yew, in the semis. Or he might be up against top seed Anders Antonsen. Needless to say, it's not going to be an easy outing for the shuttler from Kerala.

While PV Sindhu is not present for this tournament, it will be interesting to see how Ashmita Chaliha goes in Bangkok. She defeated Michelle Li of Canada in the recent Uber Cup. However, the Indian shuttler might face the top seed, Han Yue, in the second round.

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa get a bye in their first round. They will face Hung En-Tzu and Lin Yu-Pei of Chinese Taipei in the second round. Not many leading women's doubles pairs are in contention, which opens up the opportunity for the Indian duo.