Badminton at Tokyo Olympics: Preview, Guide, Schedule, Indian players

Only 4 events were played out in 1992 Barcelona Olympics compared to five events now, with mixed doubles added only in the next edition. Asian countries have always been a powerhouse in this sport with top three all-time medal winning countries being from Asia and especially China has dominated at Olympics with a total of 41 medals including 18 gold.

Coming to Indian badminton at Olympics, two female stars created history by winning medals at Olympics. First, it was Saina Nehwal who won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics and 4 years later, PV Sindhu re-created the magic by winning a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. PV Sindhu is the only Indian woman player who has won a silver medal at the Olympics. Apart from these two, there has not been much success for other shuttlers in the past at Olympics.

At Tokyo Olympics, eyes will be once again on women's singles player PV Sindhu, who is the one of the biggest medal hopefuls for India. Buoyed by her success by winning the 2019 World Championships, an entire nation rests it faith over Sindhu who aims to change the colour of her Olympics medal. The men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty too could emerge as the dark horses in the Games as they impressed with their streak of consistently impressive performances in the last couple of years. Not to forget, we do have a representation in men's singles in the form of Sai Praneeth who will be making his debut at Olympics and has the potential to pull off surprises.

Guide

There will be a total of 172 badminton players from 50 countries who will be competing across 5 events (2 men, 2 women and 1 mixed). Let's have a look at the various events

1. Men's singles – 44 players

2. Women's singles – 41 players

3. Men's doubles – 16 teams

4. Women's doubles – 16 teams

5. Mixed doubles – 16 teams

Schedule

The badminton at Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place from 24^th July to 2^nd August at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza, Tokyo, Japan. Let's have a look at the schedule

Day 1, Saturday, 24^th July (05:30 – 11:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 1, Saturday, 24^th July (14:30 – 18:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 2, Sunday, 25^th July (06:30 – 12:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 2, Sunday, 25

th July (14:30 – 18:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 3, Monday, 26^th July (06:30 – 12:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 3, Monday, 26^th July (14:30 – 18:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage
• Mixed doubles group stage

Day 4, Tuesday, 27^th July (06:30 – 12:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage

Day 4, Tuesday, 27^th July (14:30 – 18:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage
• Women's singles group stage
• Men's doubles group stage
• Women's doubles group stage

Day 5, Wednesday, 28^th July (05:30 – 11:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's singles group stage
• Mixed doubles (quarterfinals)

Day 5, Wednesday, 28^th July (14:30 – 18:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles group stage

Day 6, Thursday, 29^th July (05:30 – 12:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Mixed doubles (semi-finals)
• Men's doubles (quarterfinals)
• Women's singles (Round of 16)

Day 6, Thursday, 29^th July (13:30 – 18:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles (Round of 16)
• Women's doubles (quarterfinals)

Day 7, Friday, 30^th July (05:30 – 09:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's singles (quarterfinals)
• Mixed doubles (Bronze medal match)

Day 7, Friday, 30^th July (12:00 – 18:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Mixed doubles (Gold medal match)
• Mixed doubles (Victory ceremony)
• Women's singles (Quarterfinals)
• Men's doubles (Semi-finals)

Day 8, Saturday, 31^th July (05:30 – 12:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles (Quarterfinals)
• Women's doubles (Semi-finals)

Day 8, Saturday, 31^th July (14:30 – 19:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's singles (Semi-finals)
• Men's doubles (Bronze medal match)
• Men's doubles (Gold medal match)
• Men's doubles (Victory ceremony)

Day 9, Sunday, 01^st August (09:30 – 12:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles (Semi-finals)

Day 9, Sunday, 01^st August (17:00 – 19:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's singles (Bronze medal match)
• Women's singles (Gold medal match)
• Women's singles (Victory ceremony)

Day 10, Monday, 02^nd August (09:30 – 12:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Doubles (Bronze medal match)
• Women's doubles (Gold medal match)
• Women's doubles (Victory ceremony)

Day 10, Monday, 02^nd August (16:30 – 19:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's singles (Bronze medal match)
• Men's Singles (Gold medal match)
• Men's singles (Victory ceremony)

Indian players

At Tokyo Olympics, this time around, there are only 4 Indian badminton players competing across 3 events. Let's have a look at the players and the events at which they are competing

1. P.V. Sindhu (Women's singles)

2. B. Sai Praneeth (Men's singles)

3. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty (Men's doubles)