Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto confirm Paris Olympic qualification

Ace Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa and her women's doubles partner Tanisha Crasto confirmed their berth for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

The confirmation came after the first-round exit of the other Indian pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand from the ongoing Badminton Asia Team Championships.

With Treesa-Gayatri out of contention, Ashwini-Tanisha will be assured of a berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the qualification period ends on 28th April 2024 and there is no other tournament after Badminton Asia Championships.

Ashwini-Tanisha are ranked overall 20th in the Race to Paris rankings and are the 12th eligible pair for an automatic berth.

As per the Paris Olympic qualifications rule by BWF, A total of 48 pairs will qualify for the doubles events through the BWF ‘Race to Paris Ranking Lists’ of 30 April 2024: 16 in the men's event, 16 in the women's event and 16 in the mixed event.

In each doubles event, there will be at least one pair from each of the five BWF Continental Confederations (Continental Representation Place).

This will be the third Olympics for Ashwini Ponnappa while her partner Tanisha Crasto will make her debut.

With their qualification confirmed, India has representation in four disciplines barring mixed doubles.

HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen have confirmed their berth in men's singles, PV Sindhu will eye her third medal in the women's singles, and world number one pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will target the podium in men's doubles.