How are Paris Olympics 2024 bound Indian shuttlers preparing for Summer Games?

PV Sindhu will be leading the Indian badminton contingent in Paris Olympics 2024.

India will see seven representations in badminton at the Paris Olympics 2024 across the five Olympic disciplines, including men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

At the end of the qualification window in Badminton, India’s prominent men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty earned the third position to qualify for the Quadrennial Games.

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu advanced to the Paris Olympics 2024 in the women’s singles after achieving the 12th spot in the qualification rankings.

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen occupied ninth and 13th place respectively to join the members of the Indian contingent for Paris Olympics 2024.

This will be the maiden Olympic appearance for the two Indian shuttlers. In addition, this marks the first time since 2004 that two Indian athletes will participate at the Olympics for India in the men’s singles.

The women’s doubles spot was collected by Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto as they bagged 13th place in the Olympic qualification rankings.

This will be Ponnappa’s third Olympic Games having represented India being paired with Jwalla Gutta in the London and Rio Olympics. On the other hand, Crasto will have the opportunity to compete for India in her first Olympics in Paris.

We will now look at how these seven shuttlers are gearing up for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto (Women’s Doubles)

The women’s doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto are occupied with a very hectic schedule as they gear up for the Paris Olympics 2024. In an interview with Forbes India, Crasto revealed that their training schedule begins at 5:00 AM and concludes at 6.30 PM.

During their training, they have developed numerous programs that involve reviewing their games, analyzing their strengths, and concentrating on areas that need improvement. Ponnappa and Crasto’s best finish as a pair in 2024 was reaching the semifinals of the Thailand Open.

Lakshya Sen (Men’s Singles)

Having withdrawn from the Canada Open due to passport issue, Lakshya Sen has headed to Marseille, France to familiarize himself with the conditions as he prepares for the Paris Olympics. There, Sen will be accompanied by Korean coach Yoo Yong-sung, who briefly coached him in 2022.

Sen’s best performance so far in 2024 has been a quarter-final finish in the Indonesia Open and semi-final placements at the French Open and All England Open.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen focused on topping his group in the biggest tournament of his life

HS Prannoy (Men’s Singles)

HS Prannoy, the bronze medalist at the BWF World Championships 2023, has been training with Pullela Gopichand and Gurusai Dutt for his first Olympic appearance in Paris. Additionally, he is focusing on enhancing his physical and mental strength.

Last season was a year to remember for Prannoy which not only witnessed him win his first BWF World Tour Title at the Malaysia Masters but also attained a career-high sixth rank in the world rankings.

But this season has been quite mediocre for the Indian shuttler, with six instances of round of 32 exits in the BWF World Tour 2024 events. Prannoy will, however, look to bounce back and deliver his best efforts at Olympics 2024.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (Men’s Doubles)

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had asked the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) for financial assistance in hiring sparring partners to help them train for the Paris Olympics 2024.

In April 2024, the MOC granted their proposal for the same to assist them in gearing up for the Summer Olympics.

Although more details about the former men’s doubles world no. #1 duo are not known, the two opened up about how they are feeling while heading into the Games in a conversation with Dinesh Karthik on Jio Cinema’s “Get Set Gold”.

Also Read: There is 95% chance Satwik-Chirag will win gold: Saina Nehwal

Shetty stated, “Well, obviously, it feels good. There is pressure but I don’t think we take it in a very negative manner. We’ve always taken it in a very positive manner. Reddy added, “We take it as a responsible of Indian citizen. We want to see the Indian flag fly high there and we will work hard for that.”

This year, they have already won the French Open and Thailand Open and finished as finalists in the Malaysia Open and India Open. Besides this, the 2023 year saw them clinching the prestigious Asian Games, Asian Championships, and Indonesia Open titles.

PV Sindhu (Women’s Singles)

PV Sindhu, the 2016 Rio Olympics silver and 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist, is presently training in Germany for the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024. Her training in Germany was also approved in May 2024 by the MOC.

She is currently honing her skills at the Hermann-Neuberger Sportschule in Saarbrucken. Sindhu made her comeback to the sport at the Asian Team Championships in February 2024 after sustaining a knee injury during the French Open 2023.

Her recent best performance came at the Malaysia Masters in May 2024, a BWF Super 500 tournament, where she finished as the runner-up.

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