Indian shuttlers can win three medals at the World Championships

Indian shuttlers can fancy their chances of winning three medals at the World Championships, which kicks off in Huelva, Spain, on Sunday.
Defending champion PV Sindhu, men's singles shuttlers and the men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will aim for the podium in a depleted field caused by the withdrawal of star players and the Indonesian team. A semifinal finish can fetch a bronze at the Worlds.
Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China and former world and Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain and Japan's former world champion Nozomi Okuhara pulled out of the Worlds making things easier for Sindhu.
The Worlds have been a favourite hunting ground for the Indian as she claimed five medals - three bronze, one silver and one gold.
However, the 26-year-old, who got a bye in the first round, will run into Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand in the pre-quarterfinals. The fast-rising ninth seed had defeated Sindhu in the last two meetings. But the Indian is known for rising her game at the major events.
A victory against Chochuwong will pit Sindhu against Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei. The top seed, who successfully ended the medal drought by winning silver at Olympics, will be keen to win her first world championship gold. Expected to retire soon, Tai will give her best shot at this Worlds.
But the fact that Tai doesn't have much match practice after the Olympics, can work in Sindhu's favour. If Sindhu gets past Tai, she may once again face Korean teen sensation An Seyoung in the final.
The pullout of Indonesian team, citing the spread of Omicron will surely help Satwik-Chirag. The top two seeds in men's doubles are from Indonesia.
Their absence will help Satwik-Chirag to reach quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals they will face Olympic champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei. At Tokyo, the Indians are the only team to beat the champions in the group stage.
In men's singles, Lakshya Sen has a good chance of reaching the quarterfinals. If Lakshya can get past Zhao Jun Peng of China in the quarters, the Indian youngster can win a medal.
From the bottom-half of the draw, Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth and HS Prannoy will need one good win to reach the medal round.