Paris Olympics: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy handed easy group stage draws in badminton

PV Sindhu will have a relatively easy start to her quest of winning a third Olympic medal.

The superstar shuttler has been handed an easy draw in the group stage of the women’s singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics. HS Prannoy too will have an easy start, but unseeded Lakshya Sen has a tough ask in his hand as early as the group stage in men’s singles. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) conducted the draw ceremony for four of the five categories of the sport which will be part of the Olympic Games. The world body postponed the men’s doubles draw, which means Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will have to wait to learn about their group-stage opponents.

PV Sindhu, who won the silver medal in Rio and the bronze medal in Tokyo, has been seeded 10th in women’s singles while HS Prannoy was seeded 13th in men’s singles. Asian Games gold medalists Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty have been seeded third in men’s doubles.

Sindhu has been drawn in Group M along with World No. 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Pakistan. Sindhu has not faced Kuuba yet. She defeated Fathimath Nabaaha in their only meeting in Commonwealth Games 2022 in straight games – 21-4, 21-11.

Top seed An Se Young headlines Group A while third seed Tai Tzu Ying has been drawn alongside Thai star Ratchanok Intanon in Group E.

Only the winner of each group will progress to the next round. There are a total of 39 women’s singles players, divided into 13 groups. 3 players (the top three seeds or the winners of the group in which the top 3 seeds play) will get a bye to the quarterfinals.

PV Sindhu is likely to face China’s He Bing Jiao (6th seed) in the Round of 16 if both players make it out of the group stage.

LAKSHYA GROUPED WITH WORLD NO. 3 CHRISTIE
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy has been drawn alongside Le Duo Phat of Vietnam and Fabian Roth of Germany in Group K. Prannoy, who has been in good form, is favourite to reach the Round of 16 from the group.

However, Lakshya Sen has been drawn alongside 3rd seed Jonathan Christie in one of the two four-player groups in men’s singles. Lakshya, World No. 19, has lost to Christie four times in their five meetings. His last win against the World No. 3 came in 2020.

Lakshya has lost twice to Christie in 2024 (All England and Thomas Cup). Kevin Cordon of Argentina and Julien Carraggi are the other two players in Lakshya Sen’s draw. Lakshya is likely to face HS Prannoy in the Round of 16 if they both qualify for the final.

According to the draw principles, the 41 men’s singles players have been drawn into 13 groups. Only two groups have four players each. The players finishing at the top of each group will progress to the next round.

BADMINTON SEEDS FOR PARIS OLYMPICS
MEN’S SINGLES

1. Shi Yu Qi (CHN), 2. Viktor Axelsen (DEN), 3. Jonatan Christie (INA), 4. Anders Antonsen (DEN), 5. Kodai Naraoka (JPN), 6. Li Shi Feng (CHN), 7. Lee Zii Jia (MAS), 8. Kunlavut Vitidsarn (THA), 9. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA), 10. Loh Kean Yew (SGP), 11. Kenta Nishimoto (JPN), 12. Chou Tien Chen (TPE), 13. Prannoy H.S. (IND)

WOMEN’S SINGLES

1. An Se Young (KOR), 2. Chen Yu Fei (CHN), 3. Tai Tzu Ying (TPE), 4. Carolina Marin (ESP), 5. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN), 6. He Bing Jiao (CHN), 7. Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA), 8. Aya Ohori (JPN), 9. Beiwen Zhang (USA), 10. Pusarla V. Sindhu (INA), 11. Supanida Katethong (THA), 12. Kim Ga Eun (KOR), 13. Yeo Jia Min (SGP)

MEN’S DOUBLES

1 Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (CHN), 2 Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN), 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (IND), 4 Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae (KOR)

WOMEN’S DOUBLES

1. Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (CHN), 2. Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee (KOR), 3. Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning (CHN), 4. Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida (JPN)

MIXED DOUBLES

1. Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (CHN), 2. Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping (CHN), 3. Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung (KOR), 4. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN)