5 Spots in the Olympics for Indian Badminton Players

As per the 'Race to Paris' Ranking List' released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the regulatory body of badminton, Indian players, including PV Sindhu, have won five quotas for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Former world champion PV Sindhu, who won bronze in the Olympics in Tokyo 2020 and silver in the Olympics in 2016, fulfilled her quota by placing 12th on the list released on Tuesday, according to Olympics.com.

A berth for their national teams in the Olympics was guaranteed for players in the top 16 (up to two per country) on the men's and women's "Race to Paris" Rankings. Last year, the prestigious multi-sport event's qualifying period ran from May 1 to April 28.

With the use of this list, 35 shuttlers were able to acquire quotas, including spots designated for continental representation.

India's quotas for the 2024 Olympics in Paris were secured by HS Prannoy, ranked ninth, and Commonwealth Games winner Lakshya Sen, ranked thirteenth, in the men's singles category.

The remaining two quotas for India came from doubles competition, as Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto placed 13th in the women's doubles category and Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy finished third in the men's doubles category.

After winning the gold medal in the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, Chirag-Satwik became the first-ever Indian doubles duo to hold the top spot in the global rankings. Ashwini and Crasto won two Super 100 championship titles, the Abu Dhabi Masters and Guwahati Masters, and the Syed Modi International BWF Super 300 competition, coming in second and third respectively.

Having competed with seven shuttlers at the Rio Olympics in 2016, India might field their joint-biggest badminton contingent at the Olympics with a total of seven quotas.