Badmintonspeak

As a passionate badminton fan, you have probably seen India growing into a strong badminton nation over the past 15 years since Saina Nehwal burst onto the scene. She signified a turning point in India’s badminton fortunes.

Before 2010 India hadn’t achieved a great deal, one World Championship bronze and only 2 major titles, All England titles won by Pullela Gopichand and Prakash Padukone.

That is a very poor record for such a promising badminton nation, however, it is starting to change. The modern era of badminton players from India, ignited by Saina Nehwal, is impressive. They have achieved in 15 years what their predecessors couldn’t in 100 years. Indian badminton players have found success at nearly every level in every badminton competition, but the coveted Olympic gold medal still eludes them. To confirm their legacy as the generation that changed Indian badminton, they need to win Olympic gold!

Could that happen in Paris?

India’s chances at Paris 2024

India has 5 entrants in the Olympic badminton competition. PV Sindhu in Women’s singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen in men’s singles, Crasto and Ponnappa in Women’s doubles, Rankireddy and Shetty in men’s doubles. We are now mid-way through the group stages so how do their chances look?

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PV Sindhu – 16/1 odds (Prediction: QF)

There is a strong consensus that An Se Young of South Korea or Chen Yufei of China will meet in the final in Paris. This makes a lot of sense as they have looked by far the strongest two players leading up to the games.

To add to this Sindhu has found it difficult to get form this year, coming back from a knee injury in February, she only competed in one final this year more often losing in the first or second round of tour events. The only thing that might change it is the occasion and pre-Olympic training block.

Sindhu won her first group game against Razzaq of Maldives, which is expected. The group stages are going as expected with no upsets yet. Sindhu is nearly guaranteed to get out of the group stage where she will likely face He Bing Jiao of China in the R16. A player she has a fairly even record with, 9-11 on H2H but no matches in the last year. If she does surpass Bing Jiao she will face reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei, they have an even record 6-6 but Sindhu lost their last match.

It is very unlikely that PV Sindhu will get any medals in this Olympics. A mixture of bad form and injuries has made her job very tough. She is a fighter and knows what it takes to get to finals in these big events so could surprise people. Beating both Chinese athletes will be a difficult challenge to overcome and she will likely fall at the hands of Chen Yu Fei.

HS Prannoy – 25/1 odds (prediction: QF)

HS Prannoy has had a mixed time in qualifying. Unfortunately for him, his best results came back in 2023 with the Malaysia Masters title and runner-up at the Australian Open, he also reached 3 semi-finals all in 2023 or early 2024. This would indicate that Prannoy is perhaps on the wrong side of form with results tailing off closer to the games. His experience at the World Championships in 2023 could give him some extra fire but realistically he is very unlikely to get a medal in Paris.

So far after one match, Prannoy is top of his group after beating the stubborn German Fabian Roth. He is expected to progress from this group comfortably. In the R16 Prannoy will face either Jonatan Christie of Indonesia or compatriot Lakshya Sen. Prannoy has an even H2H with Layshya Sen, which would be a 50-50 match, Sen won the last match they played. Christie would be a bigger problem with a 6-3 lead in H2H and won all 3 of their latest matches.

To get a medal Prannoy would likely need to beat Jonatan Christie and Kodai Naraoka! Both players he has struggled against recently. Our prediction – his Olympics will end in the R16.

Lakshya Sen – 33/1 (Group Stage)

Lakshya Sen is currently ranked world number 18, a far cry from his best ranking in 2022 of 6! It’s fair to say that Sen has struggled to find consistent form with varied results in qualifying. His only title came at the Canada Open 500 with good wins over Vitidsarn, Li Shi Feng, and Nishimoto. On his day Lakshya can beat most players in the top 10 but this isn’t consistent, so the question remains if he brings his best to the court or becomes unerved by the occasion.

Jonatan Christie of Indonesia is the ranked player in his group. Christie has been up and down in the run-up to the Olympics. He won the All England and Asian Championships but proceeded to lose in the R32 in his two tournaments before Paris. Again similar to Layshya it will depend on what version of Christie turns up. Christie also has a 4-1 H2H record against Sen so knows how to beat him. Even if Sen does surpass Christie he then faces compatriot Prannoy who has the experience over Sen in these high-pressure situations.

Sen will compete well but our prediction is a loss to Christie in the group stages.

Crasto and Ponnappa – 45/1 (Prediction: Qualifying)

Crasto and Ponnappa beat fierce competition from Jolly and Gopichand to secure their Olympic spot. Ponnappa is in the twilight of her career at 35 but partner Crasto is only getting started in her career which sometimes shows on the court in big moments, tensing up and making unnecessary mistakes or poor decisions. This is likely to be Ponnappa’s last big competition for India and will want to finish her career well. On route to qualification, they competed in 6 finals showing good composure!

So far Crasto and Ponnappa have played 1 of the 3 group games which they lost to Korea’s Kim and Kong. In their second group game today (Monday) they will need to beat top seeds Shida and Matsuyama of Japan, the pair that beat them in the recent Asian Championships. A loss here will end their Olympic medal dreams. Even if they do claim the victory today they will need to also beat Mapasa and Yu of Australia to progress to the knockouts.

For Crasto and Ponnappa we predict the Japanese pair will be too strong for them meaning their Olympic dream could be over today.

Rankireddy and Shetty – 4/1 (Win)

The Irony is that the best odds for a gold medal come from men’s doubles when India has been known as a single’s nation. Add to that the influence of Denmark on the pair with Mathias Boe as their head coach, many would have thought star coaches Prakash Padukone or Pullela Gopichand would be the source of Olympic Gold.

Rankireddy and Shetty are top doubles players which they showcased in qualifying. There was no uncertainty about their involvement with 7 finals during qualifying at the top tournaments earning huge points. This qualified them in 3rd place and a preferential draw in the group stages.

So far Rankireddy and Shetty have played one match that they won against French pair Corvee and Labar. it was a fairly straightforward victory that we have come to expect from the Indian pair. Lamsfuss and Seidel have pulled out of the tournament leaving only one match left against Ardianto and Alfian of Indonesia, this match might not even matter if the Indonesians beat the French pair today (Monday).

Once Rankireddy and Shetty progress from the group, they will be two wins away from a medal. They have a good record against all of the top pairs except Chinese favorites Wang and Liang who consistently beat them with a 5-1 H2H. We think Rankireddy and Shetty are ready for the biggest stage and will be in the final, maybe even Gold medal winners!

So the short answer is; yes we think it could be.

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