Ratchanok Intanon is among the title contenders in the women's singles at the Asian leg in Bangkok which begins on Tuesday with the Yonex Thailand Open.
World No.5 Ratchanok, Thailand's highest-ranked singles player, broke a title drought of nine months last year with a hard-earned win over reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin at the Indonesia Masters.
Subsequently the former world No.1 made two quarter-finals at the Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters and the All England Open.
Usually a player who doesn't struggle for rhythm, the Asian leg will present a huge opportunity for the 25-year-old Thai star with three major events on home soil.
Ratchanok hopes to reach the semi-finals in Bangkok.
"I will be playing in a Super 1000 event for the first time on home soil," Ratchanok said recently.
"I aim to reach the semi-finals to boost my confidence before the Olympics."
Top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying appear favourite in the Asian leg.
The Taiwanese won her last event, the All England Open, in March last year before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be interesting to see if her weapons are as sharp as they were.
Other contenders in the women's singles include world No.6 Marin of Spain and No.7 PV Sindhu of India.
Marin had an unusual year in 2020 by her standards, possibly owing to the tragedy of her father's demise.
She looked off-colour at the Denmark Open despite making the final, and subsequently fell in the semi-finals of the SaarLorLux Open to Kirsty Gilmour.
There will be much curiosity around Sindhu's form, for she took the unusual step of travelling to England a few months ago to train with the England team and work on her strength and conditioning. Her last event was the All England Open, where she made the quarter-finals.
Other Thais, who are ranked outsiders, include No.12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan and No.13 Pornpawee Chochuwong.
The women's singles event will be without three of the top-five players in the world -- No.2 Chen Yufei of China, and No.3 Akane Yamaguchi and No.4 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
The Chinese team withdrew from the Bangkok leg due to travel restrictions in their country.
The Japanese squad did not travel to Thailand after Kento Momoto, the world's top men's player, tested positive for Covid-19.
Without world No.1 Momota, world No.2 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, and No.3 Anders Antonsen and No.4 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark are clear favourites to win this week.
Chou, runner-up at the All England Open and semi-finalist at the Denmark Open, is considered one of the most consistent players on the tour.
Antonsen is fresh from winning the Denmark Open on home soil.
However, an article in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) website www.bwfbadminton.com says Axelsen is the title favourite at the Yonex Thailand Open.
"With Kento Momota having withdrawn due to Covid-19, Axelsen assumes the mantle of being the player to beat at the Yonex Thailand Open," it said.
Axelsen's last event was the All England Open that he won in March 2020.
He had to skip his home event, the Denmark Open, due to injury.
World No.6 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting is also a man to watch.
The fast, attacking Indonesian was brilliant at home during the Indonesia Masters, where he stormed past Axelsen in the semi-finals before outplaying defending champion Antonsen in the final.
Kantaphon Wangcharoen is Thailand's highest-ranked male player at No.15.
Meanwhile, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn and Badminton Association of Thailand president Patama Leeswadtrakul yesterday inspected the competition venue.
They were satisfied with the Covid-19 prevention measures. The three tournaments will be televised live on TrueVisions. Bangkok Post/bwfbadminton.com