Former three-time champion Saina is battling illness and injuries in the current season, which has also had an impact on her game. In six tournaments this season, she could not progress past the first round. The 29-year-old Hyderabad-based player has already withdrawn from the Premier Badminton League (PBL) to refresh herself for the next season. World champion PV Sindhu is not participating in this tournament. The 18-year-old's Lakshya who had won championships such as the Scottish Open, SaarLorLux Open, Dutch Open and Belgium International, would try to win the Super 300 tournament for the first time. The Indian player, who won the Scottish Open title on Sunday, is close to making it to the top 40 for the first time in the rankings.
Praneeth will start his campaign against Iskander Zulkaranain of Malaysia while two-time champion Sameer compatriot Ajay Jayaram. Sameer's elder brother Saurabh will take on Hong Kong's Lee Chiuk Yiu in the first round. Parupalli Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion and winner of the tournament in 2012 and 2015, will take to the court against Lucas Carvi of France in the first round. HS Prannoy will begin his campaign against China's Youth Olympic champion Li Xi Feng.
In the men's doubles, Satvisairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be strong contenders for the title here. The Indian pair, who won the Thailand Open Super 500 title, were runners-up in the French Open Super 750 tournament. In the first round, this Indian pair will face Chinese pair of DG Jian and Wang Chang. Manu Attri and Sumit Reddy, who won the men's doubles in the Infosys Foundation India International Badminton Tournament on Sunday, will also compete in the tournament. In the mixed doubles, Indian pair will be paired with pair of Pranav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy in addition to Satwiksairaj and Ashwini Ponnappa, Dhruv Kapila and Meghna Jakkampudi. In the women's doubles, the eighth seeded Indian pair of Ashwini and Sikki will take on the court in the opening match against Hong Kong's Ng Yayu and Yuen Sin Ying.
