Thailand Open 2026: Lakshya fit to play after Thomas Cup injury; Sindhu leads Indian women’s challenge

With the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals done and dusted, the Indian shuttlers will now aim to be in the best possible shape and form for the World Championships (August 17-23) at home and the Asian Games (September 19 – October 4) as the events come thick and fast on the BWF World Tour, starting with the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Tuesday.

The BWF World Tour Super 500 event will feature the majority of the Thomas Cup squad which clinched the bronze medal in Horsens, Denmark.

Lakshya Sen had sustained a blow to his elbow during the quarterfinals of the men’s team competition and subsequently missed the semifinal loss against France. Later, the World No. 11 had mentioned in an interaction about getting the scans done after coming back to India and based on the extent of his injury and recovery, he would take a call regarding his participation in Thailand.

Sanjay Mishra, general secretary of the Badminton Association of India, confirmed to Sportstar that Lakshya has travelled to Bangkok to participate in the event.

“Yes, Lakshya will be competing in the Thailand Open,” he said. “The injury would have become worse had he played in the Thomas Cup semifinals but he has recovered.”

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The seventh-seeded Indian will face Singapore’s Jia Heng Jason Teh, a player against whom he has a 5-0 head-to-head advantage, in the first round. In order to replicate his best result at the tournament — a semifinal finish from 2023 – the 24-year-old Lakshya may have to beat defending champion and home favourite Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarterfinals.

Rising star Ayush Shetty, fresh off his Thomas Cup debut and Badminton Asia Championships silver medal, will be up against sixth-seeded Japanese and World No. 9 Kodai Naraoka. A win over Naraoka could mean an all-Indian battle for Ayush, provided Tharun Mannepalli gets his first victory in his third meeting against Koki Watanabe, another solid Japanese shuttler. Both Ayush and Tharun are in the same quarter as the top-seeded Chinese and World No. 1 Shi Yuqi.

Kidambi Srikanth will face eighth-seeded Singaporean Loh Kean Yew in a rematch of the World Championships final from five years ago.

H.S. Prannoy and Kiran George, initially part of the entry list, have withdrawn from the event.

In women’s singles, major focus will be on P. V. Sindhu who is searching for her first title since the Syed Modi International in 2024. Two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu, seeded sixth, faces World No. 43 Tung Ciou-Tong of Chinese Taipei in the first meeting between the duo. Ciou-Tong had won last year’s Guwahati Masters. The Indian shuttler is in the same quarter as top-seeded Japanese player Akane Yamaguchi.

Unnati Hooda, who recently entered the Top 20 in the BWF Rankings, has a tough first-round opponent in fourth seed and local star Pornpawee Chochuwong, a player against whom she is yet to win a game.

The women’s field also features other Indian youngsters such as Junior World Championships silver medallist Tanvi Sharma, Devika Sihag, Isharani Baruah, Malvika Bansod and Anmol Kharb.

The 19-year-old Anmol has the daunting task of facing second-seeded Chinese and World No. 2 Chen Yufei in the first round.

In men’s doubles, top seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be taking on Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Bagas Maulana, a completely new Indonesian pairing. Maulana, however, has faced Satwik-Chirag with other partners in the past.

Satwik and Chirag’s last title came at the same tournament two years ago.

Hariharan Amsakarunan and M. R. Arjun, India’s No. 2 men’s pair, also feature in the draw.

In mixed doubles, Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, and Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde are the three Indian pairs in the field while in women’s doubles, the sole Indian entry is the pair of Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda.

Published on May 11, 2026