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 10:56 AM GMT
Japanese girls Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi will be medal favourites
There will be trouble for PV Sindhu to get a clear shot at the Tokyo Olympics gold because Japanese ace shuttlers Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi will be manning the podium spots.
Okuhara, also a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as a silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships, is an arch-rival for PV Sindhu and it will be a tough road for the Indian shuttler.
- 8 July 2021 10:52 AM GMT
Japan's Kento Momota is the Numero Uno seed at the Tokyo Olympics
Japan is slowly but steadily growing as a badminton powerhouse and to that effect, World No. 1 Kento Momota will make his debut at the Tokyo Olympics in sure-shot hopes of winning a medal on home turf.
He will have to be wary of Denmark's Viktor Axelsen however, who was a bronze medallist at the 2016 Rio Games.
- 8 July 2021 10:45 AM GMT
Find out the preview and schedule for badminton at the Tokyo Olympics
There are 42 male shuttlers who have qualified for the men's singles at the Tokyo Games while there are 43 women who will be competing in the women's singles. China's Chen Long will return to defend his Olympic gold while Spain's Carolina Marin will give the Games a miss after suffering an ACL tear - she won't be there to protect her gold.
Here's the preview of the badminton competition at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Check it here!
- 8 July 2021 10:40 AM GMT
The badminton draw for the Tokyo Olympics will begin at 6:30 PM IST
In a few hours from now, we will know about the fate of the shuttlers headed to the Tokyo Olympics as the BWF will publish the draw.
