India Open: Indian shuttlers handed tricky draw with 2024 Paris Olympics qualification at stake

The official draw for the 2024 India Open was announced on Saturday, with Indian shuttlers being handed tricky draws. With the 2024 Paris Olympics just seventh months away, India’s top shuttlers will look to claim crucial points during the India Open, slated to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium from 16 to 21 January. Among the Indian stars, one among Sen and Rajawat are assured of a pre-quarterfinal spot as the young guns will face off against each other in the men’s singles opening round. Eighth seed Prannoy will be opening his campaign against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and will face the winner of the match between Sen and Rajawat after clearing the first-round hurdle. Former champion Srikanth, currently in 24th position in the Race to Paris rankings, will meet Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu in the opening round and has a potential second-round clash against defending champion Kunlavut Viditsarn of Thailand. In men’s doubles, former champions and second seeds Satwik and Chirag will kick off their challenge against World No. 25 Fang-Jen Lee and Fang-Chih Lee of Taipei in the opening round and are expected to go deeper in the competition. The women’s doubles combinations of Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto are also locked into a see-saw battle for an Olympics spot. All England semi-finalists Treesa and Gayatri have a tough opener against fourth seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan while Ashwini and Crasto, who made three back-to-back finals to end 2023 on a high, will face World No. 10 Thai combination of Rawinda Prajongjai and Jongkolphan Kititharakul in the first round. Among the other high profile first round clashes, defending women’s singles champion An Se Young of South Korea will take on three-time champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand while Spain’s Carolina Marin will face Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a clash of former world champions. In men’s singles, former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore will meet third seed and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China while top seed Viktor Axelsen will open his campaign against Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei. According to the Paris Olympics qualification rules, two Indian men’s singles players can participate in the Games only if both of them are ranked among the Top-16 at the end of the qualification process that ends on April 30, 2024. The India Open, organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), was upgraded to Super 750 category from Super 500 last year which means that the players can earn significantly higher ranking points in their quest for Olympics qualification. Looking forward to yet another fantastic week of quality badminton, BAI General Secretary Sanjay Mishra said, “The BAI has consistently maintained a very high standard of preparation for the India Open and that has ensured that it is now a Super 750 level event. This means that all our Olympics hopefully will have a good chance of using the home conditions to earn valuable points and even win the title. It will also be a great opportunity for fans to witness some breathtaking action as more top ranked players will be participating.”