2020 Tokyo Olympics: PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth get easy draws
Reigning world champion PV Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth were handed easy group stage outings in the badminton draw unveiled on Thursday for the Tokyo Olympics beginning July 23. While Rio Games silver-winner Sindhu has been seeded sixth and drawn in Group J of the women's singles event, Praneeth was seeded thirteenth in Group D of men's singles competition. Here's more.
Who will Sindhu and Praneeth face at the Games?
Sindhu will face Hong Kong's world number 34 Cheung Ngan Yi and Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova, ranked 58th, in the league stages and is likely to face Denmark's 14th seed Mia Blichfeldt in the pre-quarterfinals. Praneeth will compete against world number 29 Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands and Isreal's Misha Zilberman ranked 47th. He will face Group C's winner if he tops the group.
Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy receive tough draws
Meanwhile, world number 10 men's doubles pair, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, was handed a tough draw announced by BWF yesterday. The duo will be competing in Group A against the top-seeded Indonesian pair of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Chinese Taipei's world number 3 Lee Yang and Wang Chi Lin, and England duo of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy ranked 18th.
Probable competition for the duo in the quarter-finals
In doubles, the top two teams in the group go to the quarter-finals. If they top Group A, Shetty and Rankireddy will meet the Group D runners-up, which has second seeds Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, while a second-place finish will see them take on the winners of Group B where home favourites Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe have been drawn.
Tai Tzu Ying will have to fend off many challengers
In the singles competition, the top player from each group will qualify for the knock-out stages. Meanwhile, in women's singles, Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying will have to fend off group challengers Thuy Linh Nguyen (Vietnam), Qi Xuefei (France), and Sabrina Jaquet (Switzerland), with the group winner set to have a bye in the first round of the knockout draw.
Men's singles event to see tough competition
Among top men's singles players, Olympic bronze medalist Viktor Axelsen, former All England champion Shi Yu Qi, and Asian Games gold medalist Jonatan Christie will be in the same quarter of the knockout draw should they top their groups according to seeding. Reigning Olympic champion Chen Long will face All England champion Lee Zii Jia in the first knockout round.
