Lakshya Sen rises to no. 15 in Race to Paris rankings, Olympic hope alive

World no. 18 Lakshya Sen rose two places following his semifinal finish at the French Open Super 750 in Paris last week to enter the top 16 of the BWF's Race to Paris - Olympic qualification rankings, elevating his hope of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Lakshya is currently placed at the 15th spot in the Race to Paris Olympic Qualification rankings with 59221 points.

At the eighth spot with 74897 points, HS Prannoy has nearly sealed his spot in the Paris Olympics. Now with Lakshya's second Indian player to make the cut in the top 16 of the Olympic qualification rankings, his chances to play in the Paris Olympics only brightened.

Lakshya, who won the Canada Open last year, has gone through a prolonged slump in his career since he underwent nose surgery last year, resulting in his world ranking going down to 25 from his best career ranking of 6, achieved in November 2022.

Before the French Open semifinal finish, where he lost to Kunlavut Vitidsarn, he made nine first-round exits on the BWF World Tour.

As he continued to make first-round losses at the season-opening Malaysia Open Super 1000 and India Open Super 750, things were not looking promising for Lakhsya. However, after his semifinal finishes at the French Open, he is now well in contention for a place in the Olympics.

Only two players from a country are eligible to qualify, given the singles player is ranked in the top 16 of the Olympic qualifiers.

The BWF set April 28 as the cut-off date for qualification.

In women's singles, PV Sindhu is currently ranked 11, while in men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are placed in the second spot. They have more or less sealed their spots in the Paris Games. In women's doubles, Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa remain India's best-placed pair at 11th spot. In doubles, a country can send a maximum of one pair to the Olympics, given their players are ranked in the top 8 of the qualification rankings.