Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon may have a higher chance of winning an Olympic medal after reigning champion Carolina Marin pulled out of the Tokyo Games due to an injury.
The Spaniard, the women's singles winner at Rio 2016, will miss this year's Tokyo Olympics after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in her left knee.
The 27-year-old will undergo surgery in the coming days after suffering the injury during a training session last week.
"This is another blow that I have to deal with, but I will certainly be back," she wrote on social media.
The three-time world champion also ruptured the ACL in her right knee in 2019 and missed that year's world championships.
Marin, who was crowned European champion for the fifth consecutive time last month, was viewed as one of Spain's leading medal candidates in Japan.
World No.6 Ratchanok is one of seven Thai shuttlers who have qualified for Tokyo 2020, which begins on July 23.
The other Thais are Busanan Ongbamrungphan (women's singles), Kantaphon Wangcharoen (men's singles), Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai (mixed doubles), and Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai (women's doubles).
It will be Ratchanok's third Olympic appearance, having reached the quarter-finals at London 2012 and last-16 round at Rio 2016.
"Next station Olympic Games," Ratchanok, her country's highest-ranked singles player, posted on social media recently.
"[I] first took part [in the Olympics] at 17 years old and now I am 26. It will be my third Olympics. Have to reach destination with a medal!"
But the 2013 world champion has had unconvincing results this year and many pundits see mixed doubles duo Dechapol and Sapsiree as Thailand's best bet to win the country's first ever Olympic medal in badminton.
In January, the pair won three consecutive World Tour Super 1000 events including the World Tour Finals on home soil.
Jongkolphan and Rawinda could spring a surprise, while Busanan and Kantaphon are rank outsiders at Tokyo 2020.