Badminton News: India has made great strides to become one of the badminton powerhouses since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, with unprecedented successes in team events such as the Thomas Cup and the Asian Badminton Championships, as well as dominance at the Commonwealth Games and breakthroughs at the Asian Games, this country has a lot to celebrate.
Can the French nation continue its momentum to the Paris Olympics and produce a record medal total? That is the question.
For the second time since badminton made its debut as a competitive sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, India will have as many as seven players in four of the five categories.
Led by two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu (women's singles), the team includes HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen (men's singles), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (men's doubles), and Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto (women's doubles).
One of the main reasons for India's recent success is the rise of the men's doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag.
Led by Dane Mathias Boe, who also had a very successful doubles career, Satwik and Chirag have fulfilled all the conditions before Paris.
The pair played a crucial role in the country's historic Thomas Cup win in 2022 as previously India had always been at a disadvantage in team competitions due to most doubles matches.
All three of India's Olympic medals in badminton have come in singles: Saina Nehwal (bronze at London 2012) and Sindhu (silver at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2021).
However, maintaining this achievement will be a herculean task.
Sindhu, 29, has not been at her best since suffering a stress fracture in her left ankle at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
However, factors like training under Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone, his experience from the last two championships and a favourable draw could help him go far despite his poor form.
Prannoy, 31, and Lakshya, 22, will be making their Olympic debuts and their qualification journeys couldn't be more different.
For Prannoy, 2023 was the best season of his life as he clinched his maiden BWF World Tour title, a bronze medal at the World Championships and a historic bronze at the Asian Games, but 2024 was a nightmare with health issues and a huge dip in form.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya struggled for most of the last year and even lost to Kidambi Srikanth in the Asian Games trials, missing out on playing in the singles category in Hangzhou.
However, semi-finals at Roland Garros and the All England Open this year helped Lakshya bounce back in the Olympic qualification race and seal his place.
Both Prannoy and Lakshya managed to surprise top businessmen during their golden years, but to succeed at the Olympics, it takes consistency.
Surprise Package While all eyes are on young players Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, the new partnership between veteran players Ashwini Ponnappa, 34, and Tanisha Crasto, 20, is growing rapidly in 2023.
The duo reached three consecutive finals at the tournament in India in December, and qualification for Paris, which initially seemed unlikely, has become a realistic possibility.
A further surge in reaching the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open and Madrid Masters finally took them both to the final. Ashwini, who has already competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics with Jwala Gutta, guided Tanisha well and the duo could prove a surprise for some of the higher-ranked teams in Paris.
The badminton competition will take place at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena, with a capacity of 8,000, from July 27 to August 5.
Article keywords: India, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Paris 2024 Olympics
