New Delhi, Jul 15 (IANS): Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have got a favourable draw in Group C against Indonesia’s world No. 6 combination of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto for the upcoming Paris Olympics, set to begin on July 26. The dynamic duo, who have been seeded third in the tournament, are poised for a promising run as they aim for gold in the men’s doubles event.
Satwik, 23, and Chirag, 27, have been on a remarkable trajectory, having claimed the Thomas Cup gold and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022. Their impressive track record has established them as the former world No.1 pair and one of the top contenders for the Olympic gold medal.
In addition to the Indonesian pair, Satwik and Chirag will face the world No. 31 German team of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel, as well as the world No. 43 French pair Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar.
The Indian duo's preparation has been stellar, with significant victories in the 2023 Asia Championships, French Open Super 750, and Thailand Open Super 500, alongside reaching two more finals in 2024.
Following all the group matches, the top two pairs will progress to the knockout stage.
The world champions from Korea, Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae are in Group B with Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov from France, Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren from Thailand, and Ondrej Kral and Adam Mendrek from the Czech Republic. Kang and Seo will try to win back the gold for Korea, which was last won by the nation in the 1992 badminton Open. Korea has now lost on three occasions in the finals.
Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (China) will play in Group A against the bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, Ben Lane/Sean Vendy of Great Britain, and Dong Adam/Nyl Yakura of Canada.
Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark), silver medallists at the World Championships, and Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin (Chinese Taipei), the current Olympic champions, are two of the five pairs in Group D.
The other three couples are Vinson Chiu/Joshua Yuan of the USA, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi of China, and Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi of the USA, the 2021 world champions.
The men’s doubles draw faced a slight delay due to a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing concerning the number of pairs in the competition. The draw was postponed on Friday after CAS ordered the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to recommend to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the French pair of Corvee and Labar be included in the Olympic Games. This inclusion resulted in a revised 17-pair men’s doubles draw, up from the originally planned 16 pairs.