Explained: How Can Indian Badminton Players Qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Here’s everything you need to know about the qualification process for the 2024 #ParisOlympic games:

Race to 2024 Paris Olympics - Qualification Scenarios - Candidates Competing - everything you need to know 

Images: BAL/Altered by The Quint

In the realm of Indian badminton, 2023 brought a mix big of results. The male players, particularly the dynamic duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, made waves by breaking records and securing titles. On the other hand, senior women's singles player P.V. Sindhu faced challenges upon returning from injury breaks.

Additionally, the previous year marked the remarkable ascent of the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto who are currently ranked 20th in the world, while World No. 9 HS Prannoy also found his groove once again.

With the 2024 badminton season having already begun in the second week of January with the Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur, the momentum towards the 2024 Paris Olympics gains traction. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics: 

What Is the Qualification Period?

The Olympic qualification period in badminton started on 1 May 2023 and will conclude on 28 April 2024. While the BWF continues its ranking system, there is now a separate ‘Race to Paris Ranking’ list which is the focus of all players looking to book a ticket to Paris.

The final list of entries will be published on 30 April, 2024.

What is the Race to Paris Rankings?

Every Olympic season, in addition to the regular Badminton World Federation (BWF) player rankings, a special set of rankings is also created to tabulate the points collected by players in the qualification window, which stretches from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024 this time. With the Olympics in Paris this summer, that ranking tabulation is called the 'Race of Paris'.

What Are the Qualification Categories and Guidelines?

As per World Badminton Federation (BWF) a total of 172 players across the five categories – men’s singles (35), women’s singles (35), men’s doubles (16 pairs), women’s doubles (16 pairs), and mixed doubles (16 pairs) – will compete at the Olympics from 27 July to 5 August 2024.

In the singles draws, each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is given one spot IF they don’t have two players in the top 16 of the final Race to Paris rankings. But if they have two players at the qualification cutoff ranking, then that NOC gets to send two players to compete in Paris.

In the three doubles disciplines, an NOC can have a maximum of two quota places if both pairs are in the top 8 of the final Race to Paris rankings. Besides the top 16 and top 8 selections, there are four universality places available for eligible countries: two in men's singles and two in women's singles.

All National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have the opportunity to compete for a total of 35 slots in men's singles and an equal number of slots in women's singles.

How Do Players Earn Ranking Points?

Players accumulate ranking points by participating in tournaments graded by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The ranking considers the points from the top 10 events within the 52 week window of the 'Race to Paris' rankings.

If a player has taken part in 15 events during this period, the five with the lowest points will not be included in the ranking.

How Is Each Tournament Ranked?

According to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the World Tour finals have the highest points (13,000) for the winner while a Super 1000 tournament, which include the Malaysian Open, All England Championship, Indonesia Open, and China Open earn 12,000 points for the winners. Similarly, the ladder goes downward with Super 100 tournaments fetching the winner 5,500 points

Where Do Indian Men's Players Stand?

Prannoy clinched the bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games.

Image: BAI

India currently has only one men's singles player in a position to book an automatic qualification spot for Paris with HS Prannoy currently ranked 6th in the 'Race of Paris' rankings with 73,314 (on 28 Jan, 2024).

He entered the 2024 season on the back of a glittering 2023 that saw him win the Malaysian Masters and claim his first World Championships medal. At the 2024 Malaysia Open, the 31-year-old lost in the first round to Denmark's Anders Antonsen. Then, at the 2024 India Open, he reached the semi-finals but was defeated by China's World No. 2, Shi Yu Qui, with a score of 15-21, 5-21.

Next on the list if 22-year-old Lakshya Sen who stands at the 19th position with 50,480 points. The 2021 World Championships bronze medallist struggled with form and fitness throughout last season and has not had the strongest start to the 2024 season, getting knocked out in the first round of the Malaysian and India Opens.

Kidambi Srikanth stands 24th in the rankings with 45,793 points.

Kidambi Srikanth had missed the qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.

Image: BAI

Where Do Indian Women's Players Stand?

PV Sindhu is currently out of action due to a knee injury.

Image: PTI

In the women’s singles section, only double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is ranked within the top 25 of the 'Race to Paris' rankings, and currently occupies the 11th position with 57,388. The next Indian in the race is Aakarshi Kashyap who sits on the 40th place.

Though Sindhu is well within reach of a Paris quota, she is expected to be out of action until the start of February due to a knee injury sustained in October 2023 during the French Open. 

However, a positive for the ace shuttler is that she will have the opportunity to maintain her ranking in the top 16 in Race to Paris when she makes her comeback in the Badminton Asia Championships in mid-February as following the injury, the BWF granted a protected ranking, locking in her at the world number 10 spot. She is now with a new coach, Indonesia’s Agus Dwi Santoso, after parting ways with another Indonesian Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.

Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty Set to Make Cut?

5th ranked Satwik-Chirag will seal a Paris Olympics berth with ease.

Image: X

With 87,231 points to their name in the Men's Doubles 'Race to Paris' rankings, fourth ranked duo of Satwik Rankireedy and Chirag Shetty are on track to comfortably seal a spot for the Paris Olympics. 

The duo boasts a phenomenal 2023 year with gold medals at the Asian Games, titles in Asian Championship, Indonesian Super 1000, Korea Super 500 and Swiss Open Super 300. However, they lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang and ended up runners up at the recently concluded Malaysia Open. They finished the India Open as runners-up too and took home the silver after losing to reigning World Champions, Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae.

India's Chances in Women's Doubles?

Despite Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto's significant improvement over the past year, their chances of securing a qualification spot are quite slim.

Image: BAI

With 48,080 points, Ashwini and Tanisha are ranked 11th in the Race to Paris standings. Despite the duo’s meteoric rise in rankings over the course of the last one year, their road to qualification is a difficult one. For context, the eighth ranked Japanese pair already have 73,323 points under their belt making it highly unlikely for them to qualify before the qualification period ends.