The draw for the badminton events at the Paris Olympics 2024 was held on Friday in Kuala Lumpur by the BWF.
India has five representatives over four categories at Paris 2024 – Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men’s doubles, PV Sindhu in women’s singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen in men’s singles and Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa in women’s doubles.
Of them, Satwik-Chirag are seeded third, Sindhu is seeded 10th and Prannoy is seeded 13th, which means that the they would top their respective groups. The knockout stages begin with the Round of 16, with winners of each group progressing.
However, the men’s doubles draw was pushed back due to a Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) hearing over the number of pairs in the draw and will held on another date.
While we will have to wait and see how Sat-Chi’s draw works out, here’s how the remaining players have been drawn:
Women’s Singles
PV Sindhu (world no. 13) has been drawn on top of group M with:
Draw analysis:
Sindhu, looking to win a third straight Olympics medal, has a relatively easy group stage to start with. The Round of 16, though, will bring her first big challenge with China’s 6th seed He Bing Jiao her likely opponent. He leads the Indian 11-9 in their head-to-head. If Sindhu beats her, a potential quarterfinal with China’s defending Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei looms. (H2H 6-6)
Path to Paris: Forget form, forget everything… it’s time for big-game PV Sindhu
Men’s Singles
HS Prannoy (world no. 13) has been drawn in group K with:
Lakshya Sen (world no. 19) has been drawn in group L with:
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Indonesia’s Jonathan Christie (world no. 3)
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Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon (world no 41, finished fourth in Tokyo Olympics)
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Belgium’s Julien Carragi (world no 52)
Draw analysis:
While Prannoy, the last seed at 13, has received an easy group on paper, unseeded Lakshya will have his task cut out from the group stage itself with world No 3 and All England champion Jonathan Christie in his group. The Indonesian leads Lakshya 4-1 and has beaten him twice this year, in the All England semis and Thomas Cup. Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon, who took the Tokyo Olympics by storm by a surprise run to the semis, can also be a force to be reckoned with.
If both Prannoy and Lakshya can top their group and progress to the next round, they will meet in an all-Indian clash in the Round of 16. (Lakshya leads 4-3)
Women’s Doubles
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa (World no. 19) have been drawn in Group C with:
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Japan’s Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida (World no. 4)
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South Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (World no. 7)
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Australia’s Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu (World no. 27)
Draw analysis:
A late winner pf the Race to Paris, the relatively inexperienced pair of Ashwini and Tanisha have been placed in a tough group with two higher ranked pairs in the group of four. Japan’s fourth seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida will be the biggest challenge, who have beaten the Indians in their only encounter. They have not played the other two pairs yet.
The badminton events at Paris will start on July 27 with the group stages running till July 31.
