Thailand Open 2023: Preview, schedule, where to watch & live streaming details in India
Following a triumphant campaign at the Malaysia Masters, Indian shuttlers will be raring to go at the Thailand Open, scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 30 to June 4.
Last week's men's singles champion HS Prannoy will be sitting out of this Super 500 event. PV Sindhu, who reached the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur, will be spearheading the Indian challenge in Bangkok and will hope to go two rounds better this time around.
Sindhu will open her campaign against former Commonwealth Games gold medalist Michelle Li. The World No. 13 is in the same quarter as the Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin and the same half as the top seed An Se Young, both of whom have troubled the Indian in the past.
Saina Nehwal, who won the event in 2012, makes her much-awaited return to competition from an injury layoff. The World No. 36 has been drawn to face Canadian qualifier Wen Yu Zhang in the first round.
Along with the two Indian shuttle queens, youngsters Malvika Bansod and Ashmita Chaliha will be seen in action in the main draw.
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The men's singles main draw, meanwhile, is packed with as many as seven Indians vying for glory. Having made the quarters at the Malaysia Masters, 2013 winner Kidambi Srikanth will be keen to build on it. He faces Weng Hong Yang, who finished as the runner-up to HS Prannoy last week.
Lakshya Sen, whose ranking has now plummeted to 23, will take on World No. 27 Wang Tzu Wei. Sai Praneeth, winner in 2017, will cross swords with World No. 36 Christo Popov.
Orleans Masters champion Priyanshu Rajawat, Mithun Manjunath, Sameer Verma, and Kiran George are the other Indians in the men's singles draw.
The only notable absentee is HS Prannoy, who will look to recharge his batteries this week after his Malaysia Masters heroics.
Swiss Open champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, meanwhile, have got the top seeding in men's doubles at this tournament. The Indian pair is having a fantastic season that has seen them become the Asian champions as well. Rankireddy and Shetty's exploits have now catapulted them to their career-best world ranking of No. 4.
Rankireddy and Shetty will kickstart their title quest against the Danish combine of Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard. They are the only Indians in the men's doubles draw.
Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam are the sole Indian representatives in women's doubles at the Thailand Open.
Thailand Open 2023: Schedule
Qualifying rounds: May 30, 2023
First round: May 30-31, 2023
Second round: June 1, 2023
Quarter-finals: June 2, 2023
Semi-finals: June 3, 2023
Finals: June 4, 2023
Matches for the first few days are likely to start at 8 am local time / 6.30 am IST.
Thailand Open 2023: Telecast channel list in India
The Thailand Open 2023 will be broadcast live in India on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels from Thursday, June 1. Matches will also be shown live on the Jio Cinema app.
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 Thailand Open 2023 (Main draw)
Men's singles: Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Kiran George, Mithun Manjunath, Sameer Verma, Priyanshu Rajawat
Women's singles: PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Malvika Bansod, Ashmita Chaliha
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty
Women's doubles: Ashwini Bhat/Shikha Gautam