Paris, Jul 26: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will hope to deliver the country’s first-ever badminton gold, while PV Sindhu would look to solidify her status as one of the greatest athletes with an unprecedented third successive Olympic medal when Indian shuttlers begin their campaign at the Paris Games here on Saturday.
Sindhu will need to summon her big-game temperament to add another medal to the silver and bronze she won in the last two editions and Satwik and Chirag will aim to continue their love affair at the French capital, having won the men’s doubles super 750 crown here this year.
For Ashwini Ponnappa, Paris is likely to be her last Olympics and she will hope to be third time lucky as she leads the women’s doubles challenge along with debutant Tanisha Crasto.
Then there are the other two first-timers — HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, who will be equally keen to return with a medal. The catch is that only one of them can achieve that feat, given that they are set to collide in the pre-quarterfinals if they cross the group stage.
The singles stars have had a bumpy ride to Paris but Satwik-Chirag have looked to be playing in a different sphere, claiming two titles and reaching four finals this year.
They have won the Thomas Cup, Commonwealth Games gold and World Championships bronze in 2022, Asian Games and Asian Championships gold and also achieved the world number one ranking.
Satwik-Chirag, seeded third, are placed in Group C with world No.6 and reigning All England champions Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, world No.31 German pair of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel and world No.46 French shuttlers Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar.
The Indians have defeated Alfian and Ardianto in their last three meetings, while they have a 1-0 record against the German pair and 2-0 against the Frenchmen.
Satwik and Chirag will look to finish at the top to get in the dominating mindset ahead of the knockouts.
Chinese world no 1 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, and No. 4 Koreans Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae will be the fiercest competitor on their way to gold.
Sindhu, on the other hand, has been patchy in the run-up to the Games. A left ankle injury in 2022 took six months to heal and she struggled in 2023. After a few months, she suffered a knee injury in October last year.
She returned in February but results were tough to come by with the highlight being a runner-up finish at Malaysia Masters.
However never shy to try out new things, she parted ways with her Korean coach Park Tae-sang, who guided her to a bronze in Tokyo.
She trained under Malaysian Hafiz Hashim before finally shifting base to the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy to find her spark back under new Indonesian coach Agus Santoso.
With the likes of An Se Young, Chen Yu Fei, Tai Tzu Ying and Carolina Marin standing in her way, the road to a medal will be hard but Sindhu has always been a big match player.
She will meet World No. 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia and No 111 Fatimah Razzaq of Maldives in the group stage. However, she is likely to face two Chinese — He Bingjiao and Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei in the knockout stage.
She has never lost to Chinese in the World championships or Olympics and she will need to keep that record intact to salvage any hope of a medal.
In men’s singles, Lakshya is unseeded. His failure to defend his title at the Canada Open due to a visa issue cost him dearly as he has been handed the tough task of outwitting third-seeded Indonesian Jonatan Christie, who has a 4-1 head-to-head count against the Indian.
Lakshya also needs to get across Tokyo semifinalist Kevin Cordon and Belgium’s Julien Carragi.
Only one shuttler qualifies from the group and if Lakshya can achieve that he is likely to square off against Prannoy, who has been drawn with lower-ranked players Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat and Germany’s Fabian Roth in Group K.
The World Championships and Asian Games bronze medallist had a difficult 2024 as he battled with health issues which included a stomach disorder, a nagging back injury and a bout of chikungunya.
While the world no.13 is known for turning up for big-ticket events, fitness will be key for him.
Ashwini and Tanisha produced an inspired show in 2023 but the odds are stacked against them in Group C.
Fourth seeds Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama of Japan, and South Koreans Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong will prove to be the most challenging competitors, while they also have Australia’s Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu in the group. (Agencies)
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