Reigning World champion P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draws unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.
None of the other three quarters boast of such a strong star cast but there would be a few mouth-watering opening round clashes to look forward to.
The Indian badminton team sealed a place in the knockout stage of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship, despite Indonesia pulling off a stunning 3-2 victory over Denmark in the last match of the Group 1D in Gold Coast, Australia, on Wednesday.
Now all eyes are on the two Super 1000 events -- Yonex Thailand Open (January 12-17) and Toyota Thailand Open (January 19-24) as the world's best return to action following a prolonged break.
Indian contingent has an opportunity to go deep in the draw and recapture the trophy which has been won by just two Indians so far -- the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) and P Gopichand (2001).
P V Sindhu will be eager to return to the podium as former winner Saina Nehwal looks to regain her touch
P V Sindhu secured her fifth World Championships medal following a stunning comeback while B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to grab a podium place in badminton's prestigious event, in Basel, on Friday.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy scored a stunning straight games victory over world No. 18 Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu to make it to the second round in the women's doubles at the US $350,000 India Open, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
Former champions P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the second round in the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton scoring contrasting victories, in Delhi, on Wednesday. Si
The 24-year-old from Hyderabad will begin her campaign against China's Li Xuerui, a former Olympic gold medallist and World No 1.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Conor McGregor said on Tuesday he was retiring from the sport, five months after losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a controversial title fight
