Badminton
Badminton Draw—Tokyo Olympics: Tricky draw for Sindhu, Praneeth, Satwik-Chirag - LIVE updates, fixtures, blog, who plays who?
Tough draw handed to the Tokyo-bound Indian shuttlers - PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth and Satwik-Chirag. Medal hopes will be really tricky now.
Welcome to The Bridge's LIVE blog of the Tokyo Olympics badminton draw - stay with us as we take you through the expected clashes.
With two weeks remaining before the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza transforms into the hunting ground for ambitious shuttlers at the Tokyo Olympics, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) will decide the fate of the proceedings today. Scheduled to take place between 24th July to 2nd August, badminton at the Tokyo Summer Olympics will feature five categories - men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and finally, mixed doubles.
For India, the badminton draw will play an important role and help predict the chances of the shuttlers setting sail for Tokyo. Led by 2016 Rio silver medallist PV Sindhu and followed by other Olympic debutants like B. Sai Praneeth and the doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, the draw will play a crucial factor.
The full badminton draw is out now - tough chances for all Indian shuttlers
First, in the Women's Singles, sixth-seeded PV Sindhu is placed in Group J and will have to sail past opponents from Hong Kong China and Israel before moving onto the knock-out stages. Once there, she will potentially face Mia Blichfeldt, followed by Akane Yamaguchi in the quarters, Tai Tzu-ying in the semis and finally, Chen Yufei in the finals.
Second, in the Men's Singles, the thirteenth-seeded Sai Praneeth has a very tricky draw and is placed in Group D. In the group stages, he will have to brave past opponents from Israel and Netherlands. The knockout stages are incredibly demanding of Praneeth as he will have to face Ng Ka Long Angus in the Round of 16, followed by Kento Momota in the quarters, either Viktor Axelsen or Jonatan Christie in the semis and lastly, Chou Tien Chen or Anders Antonsen in the finals.
Lastly, the most difficult group stages draw has been dealt to the dynamic doubles duo of Satwik-Chirag. Placed in Group A, Satwik-Chirag have the World No. 1 Indonesian duo - the Minions to worry about. They also have the Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin and the British combine of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy to combat with.
Follow all our updates here:
Live Updates
- 8 July 2021 2:16 PM GMT
Group D is complete in Men's Singles
A fairly easy opponent in the mix now as Israel's Misha Zilberman joins the list and completes Group D.
- 8 July 2021 2:14 PM GMT
Caljouw is pretty formidable right now as he is World No. 29 currently and he also reached the semi-finals of the prestigious All England Open 2021. Sai Praneeth won't be having it easy at all.
- 8 July 2021 2:11 PM GMT
Tricky draw already for Sai Praneeth
Sai Praneeth's draw is beginning to look tricky already as he has Netherland's Mark Caljouw in his group. Caljouw has been enjoying a very good form of late!
- 8 July 2021 2:09 PM GMT
Refugee shuttler Aram Mahmoud in Group G along with 7th seeded Jonatan Christie
Lone refugee shuttler in the fray, Syria's Aram Mahmoud has been placed in Group G. He has Indonesia's Jonatan Christie to be wary of here!
To know more about his inspiring story, read on here!
- 8 July 2021 2:06 PM GMT
Group D for Sai Praneeth!
Seeded 13th at the Tokyo Olympics, Sai Praneeth is placed in Group D!
- 8 July 2021 2:04 PM GMT
The Men's Singles draw is ON!
TWorld No. 1 Kento Momota takes top spot in Group A while Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, seeded second, takes Group P!'
Defending champion from China - Chen Long takes Group N!
- 8 July 2021 2:01 PM GMT
It's time for B.Sai Praneeth's fate to be decided!
Let us find out how 2019 World Championships bronze medallist B.Sai Praneeth has his fate charted out in the draw today!
- 8 July 2021 1:59 PM GMT
Quite an easy draw for PV Sindhu unlike Satwik-Chirag.
Sindhu should be having it easy and we can expect her to carry on to the knock-out stages!
- 8 July 2021 1:51 PM GMT
Back to PV Sindhu!
The Group J line-up is OUT!
PV Sindhu has to fight past opponents from Hong Kong China and Israel! Should be easy for the 2016 Rio silver medallist!!
- 8 July 2021 1:44 PM GMT
Exciting draw for Satwik-Chirag!
For World No. 10 duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, it won't be a cakewalk as they are placed in Group A of the draw and will have to clash against No. 1 pair of Kevin Sukamuljo and Marcus Gideon a.k.a the Minons - pure veterans of the game!