By Athul P.S.
And the Summer Olympics are back after 3 years. The previous edition, originally meant to be held at Tokyo in 2020 was instead held a full year later in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. Due to the widespread impact of Covid in Tokyo at the time, the events were conducted behind almost entirely closed doors making it the only Olympics to have had no public attendance. This time around, La Ville Lumiere, Paris, a city renowned world over for its art museums, cuisine, high fashion and architecture; arguably the most prominent cultural hub in the world, will play host to the grandest confluence of sports.
Wondering who are the strong medal contenders for India? Who can spring a surprise? Maybe the qualification procedure for a particular sport? You don’t need to go anywhere: we at IIT Madras are going to help you with a full-fledged guide. So, before you tune into the Olympic Games starting 26th July, do not forget to read our brand-new series: “Road to Paris”.
In our first piece, we’ll look at Badminton, Indian starlets of the sport and their chances at what is considered by many to be the ultimate sporting spectacle.
THE HISTORY OF BADMINTON AT THE OLYMPICS, AT A GLANCE
Let’s take a quick trip down the history of badminton at the Summer Olympics. Badminton was first held as a demonstration sport in the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, in erstwhile West Germany. The sport debuted as an official sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and has featured in all of the 8 editions of the Olympic games succeeding the ‘92 games. And while we are still dealing with the history of the sport, let’s draw our attention to the fact that badminton as we know it, was first played by Britishers residing in India, before spreading to England and subsequently all over the globe.
PRESENT DAY LANDSCAPE OF THE SPORT
Back to the present day. The sport is regulated by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. The BWF has 176 member nations around the world and is responsible for drawing up the BWF World Rankings. The BWF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its rankings are used to determine the qualification to the Summer Olympics.
In recent years, the sport has been dominated by a handful of Asian heavyweights namely China, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan while Denmark has been a European powerhouse producing talents such as reigning World Number One in the Men’s Singles rankings, Viktor Axelsen, (who famously taught himself Mandarin as it would, in his own words, “open up some new doors with sponsorship and work”, an indication of the popularity of the sport in Asia) and current Men’s World Number four, Anders Antonsen.
At the time of writing this piece, in the BWF Men’s Singles World Rankings, Viktor Axelsen holds first place and is followed by Shi Yuqi of China in 2nd place and Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in 3rd place. The highest ranked Indian Men’s Singles shuttlers are HS Prannoy in 10th place and Lakshya Sen in 14th place. In the BWF Women’s Singles World Rankings An Se Young of the Republic of Korea tops the charts. Chen Yufei of China holds the second spot while Spanish great and 2016 Olympic Gold winner Carolina Marin completes the top 3. India’s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, currently in 12th place, is the lone Indian in the Women’s Singles Top 20.
The Men’s Doubles Rankings sees the Indian pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty holding the coveted World Number One spot while the highest ranked Indians in Women’s Doubles are the 20th placed duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto.
AT THE OLYMPICS
China, which has produced greats like Chen Long, Lin Dan, Li Xuerui and Chen Yufei occupies the top spot in the Olympic medal tally rankings having won a total of 47 medals of which 20 are gold alone, which is very nearly the total medal count of second placed Indonesia, who have won 21 medals out of which 8 are gold. The two remain the only nations to have won Olympic gold in every single badminton discipline. South Korea follows closely with 20 medals to their names and Denmark and Japan complete the top 5 with 9 and 4 medals respectively.
Having won 3 medals courtesy of Saina Nehwal’s 2012 Bronze and P.V Sindhu’s 2016 Silver and 2020 Bronze, this ranking also sees India share the 9th spot with Great Britain (Chinese Taipei and Spain, despite having fewer medals are ranked higher as they have a gold medal each).
QUALIFICATION TO THE 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS
The badminton events of the 2024 Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Porte de la Chapelle Arena, also known as Adidas Arena, a multipurpose venue with a capacity of 8000 (which will actually get occupied unlike the last time round at Tokyo) that was inaugurated in 2024 and will also be hosting the rhythmic gymnastics events at the Games.
A total of 172 participants, an equal number of men and women, who have spent years training for this very tournament, will make their way to the French capital this summer, to sweat it out for the coveted Olympic medals and book their places in the history books.
The host nation France automatically gained a spot each in men’s singles and women’s singles, while four places (two per gender) are reserved for the eligible countries interested to have badminton players compete for Paris 2024 under the Universality principle.
The remaining qualifications are determined by the BWF’s Race to Paris Rankings which takes into account results of between 1st May 2023 and 28th April 2024. This includes but are not limited to tournaments such as the World Championships and Continental Championships. The full list of rankings has been published and is currently seen on the official BWF website.
Each country can have a maximum of 8 players. A country can be represented by a maximum of two players each in the men’s and women’s singles if they are ranked within the top sixteen of the ranking lists, respectively; otherwise, they will send a single player until the quota of thirty-eight is reached. Similarly, for players competing in the double’s sections, the countries can enter a maximum of two pairs if they are ranked in the top eight, with the rest entitled to a single pair until the roster of sixteen is complete. Additional rules ensure that each category must feature a badminton player representing each of the five continental zones and assign additional quota places if some players qualify for multiple events.
INDIANS STARS TO WATCH AT THE GAMES
P V Sindhu
Too big an icon to describe in a few words? Here you go, a chance to explore whether Paris will be an Olympic swansong for Sindhu: https://iitmsports.wordpress.com/2024/06/23/paris-2024-olympic-swansong-for-sindhu-2/
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
The duo, presently 1st in the World rankings, will be one of India’s biggest medal prospects and have a realistic chance of clinching gold. They won their first title as a pair in the 2023 Swiss Open. But they had attracted attention long ago with some dazzling performances, including a sensational victory against eventual gold medallists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin at the Tokyo Olympics. 2023 though belonged to them as they won 5 titles, including a gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
In 2024, they won the Thailand Open and the French Open, apart from finishing runners-up in the Malaysia Open and India Open. While this is a pair which can defeat anyone on a good day, what would slightly worry them is their lack of consistency in recent times, including a shocker of a performance at the Thomas Cup and a first-round exit at the recent Singapore Open. It is worth noting that Satwik has not been at his best, having had injury concerns recently. The duo would be hoping to be fit and firing at Paris, as they aim to create history.
H.S Prannoy
Prannoy too can defeat anyone on a good day, which is vindicated by the fact that he has defeated a near-invincible Axelsen thrice in their last five meetings. Prannoy has some sensational performances dating back to nearly a decade ago, but his career has been derailed multiple times by injuries and other health concerns. Suffering from chronic gastrointestinal disorder, Prannoy has had a tumultuous time of late, having not reached a single quarterfinal since the India Open in January.
Prannoy had an exceptional 2023, which saw him rise to a career high rank of 6. In the Hangzhou Games, he battled a back injury enroute to a historic bronze medal. Prannoy has shown time and again that he can withstand a huge pain barrier. Can the veteran, who will turn 32 in July, emerge triumphs in a very competitive men’s singles field at Paris?
Lakshya Sen
The 22-year-old will be making his Olympic debut this year. He is currently World Number 14 in Men’s Singles. His first moment of glory came at the World Championships in 2021. His career has resembled a roller coaster- an unbelievable rise, followed by a steep fall and now some good form again, at the right time. He was unlikely to qualify for the Games, before semifinal finishes in the French Open and All England Championship this year gave him a much-needed impetus in the rankings.
While 2022 saw Lakshya win 2 titles and reach 2 more finals apart from being part of the victorious Indian team at the Thomas Cup, 2023 saw him losing in the first or second round, a whopping 16 times. He has found his rhythm now though, displaying good form at the Thomas Cup and the recently concluded Indonesia Open.
A really elegant player with some wonderful shots in his repertoire, Lakshya, who already has a glittering trophy cabinet, has a really bright future. But he will probably find it difficult to secure a podium finish at Paris, as his low seeding means that he could run into tough opponents early on. Yet, if you are facing Lakshya, you would only rule him out at your own peril.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto
The duo teamed up relatively recently in December 2022 and consists of a 34-year-old veteran in Ashwini – who used to form one of the most formidable pairs in the world with Jwala Gutta- and a youngster in Crasto, who is set to turn 22 soon. The latter, being naturally a front-court player complements Ashwini’s back-court capabilities. With many top pairs present, the Indian duo would find it very difficult to clinch a medal.
The duo has some recent form to boast of, having reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open and having gone done fighting in a grueling three setter to the World Number 2 Korean pair of Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee at the Indonesia Open. They would be looking to spring a surprise or two at Paris.
Watch the Olympic Games on the Sports 18 network and Jio Cinema, starting July 26.
IIT-M Sports 