PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, five other Indian shuttlers officially qualify for Paris Olympics 2024

Published at :May 7, 2024 at 6:44 PM

Modified at :May 7, 2024 at 6:45 PM

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

The qualification period ran from May 1, 2023 to April 28, 2024.

The Indian badminton contingent for the upcoming Paris Olympics has been finalized with seven shuttlers qualifying across the five categories, led by two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu. As the qualification period closed on April 29th, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) confirmed the qualifiers based on the Olympic Games Qualification Rankings.

Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu, former world champion, secured her Paris berth by finishing 12th in the women’s singles qualification race. Having won silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020, the 28-year-old Sindhu will be one of India’s biggest medal hopes in the French capital.

In the men’s singles category, India will be represented by the talented duo of HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, who are ranked ninth and 13th respectively in the qualification race. Both Prannoy and Sen medalled at the World Championships in recent years, underlining their potential on the biggest stage.

The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who became the first Indian duo to achieve the world No.1 ranking after their Asian Games gold last year, have also sealed their qualification spot. They will head to Paris as a formidable medal contender for India.

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Rounding out India’s contingent is the women’s doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who finished 13th in the qualification standings to book their Paris tickets.

A total of 35 shuttlers secured quotas in each of the singles events through the qualification race, which ran from May 1, 2023, to April 28, 2024. For the men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles events at Paris 2024, the qualification system awards two quota places (for four athletes) to the National Olympic Committees that have two or more pairs ranked between 1st and 8th in the Olympic Qualification Rankings. This system ensures the top doubles pairs from the leading badminton nations secure their Olympic berths.

India’s Olympic medal tally in badminton stands at three – Saina Nehwal’s bronze in 2012 London, followed by Sindhu’s silver and bronze at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo editions respectively. The country will be optimistic about adding to that tally with this formidable seven-member squad.

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