Seven Indian badminton players, including PV Sindhu, a former world champion and two-time Olympic medalist, have successfully secured spots for the Paris 2024 Olympics. They qualified across four categories based on their rankings in the Olympic Games Qualification. PV Sindhu, along with top male singles players HS Pranoy and Lakshya Sen, had already confirmed their spots earlier. The final confirmation came on Monday, April 29, which was the deadline set by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The Olympic Games Qualification
According to the rules, the top 16 players in men’s and women’s singles, based on their Olympic Games Qualification rankings by the cut-off date, secure spots in the Olympics. PV Sindhu, who won silver and bronze at the Olympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 respectively, was ranked 12th by the cut-off date.
HS Prannoy, who won bronze at the Asian Games, and Lakshya Sen, who clinched gold at the Commonwealth Games, were ranked 9th and 13th respectively in men’s singles. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who were ranked third at the end of the Olympic qualification period, are seen as strong contenders for a medal for India in the Games.
In the women’s doubles category, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa secured their spots by finishing 13th at the end of the qualification period. Unfortunately, the other Indian women’s doubles pair, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, didn’t make it through. Kidambi Srikanth, a former world number 1 in men’s singles, couldn’t qualify despite his efforts, as he had a series of disappointing performances on the BWF World Tour this year.
Seven Indian badminton players, spread across four categories, women’s singles, men’s singles (two players), men’s doubles, and women’s doubles, have secured their spots for the Paris Olympics 2024.
HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen will represent India in the men’s singles category, while PV Sindhu will compete in women’s singles. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will pair up for the men’s doubles event, and Tanisha Crasto will team up with Ashwini Ponnappa for the women’s doubles.
For HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, and Tanisha Crasto, this will mark their debut appearances at the Olympics. PV Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag, and Ashwini Ponnappa have participated in previous Olympic Games, with only one of them managing to secure a medal.
