Lakshya Sen All but Qualifies for Paris Olympics, Joins Prannoy in Historic Feat

For the first time in two decades, two Indians will be competing in the men's singles event at the Olympics.

Lakshya Sen has all but qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

(Photo: PTI)

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has virtually secured a 2024 Paris Olympics ticket, awaiting official confirmation, courtesy of 12th rank in the BWF Race to Paris classification. He becomes the second Indian to qualify in the men’s singles event, joining HS Prannoy in what is a historic achievement for the nation’s badminton fraternity.

The upcoming Paris Olympics will witness a landmark achievement for the Indian badminton fraternity, as it will be the first time in two decades that two Indian shuttlers have qualified for the men’s singles event. The last of such occurrence was at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where both Abhinn Shyam Gupta and Nikhil Kanetkar had qualified.

According to the qualification regulations for the upcoming Olympics, two shuttlers from a country will be allowed to compete in the same event if they both are among the top 16 in the BWF Road to Paris rankings on 1 May. Sen, who is currently ranked 12th, has mathematically ensured a berth in the top 16. Prannoy, meanwhile, is currently ranked 9th.

Excellent performance recently concluded All England Badminton Championships had a crucial role to play in Sen’s Olympics qualification. The Asian Games silver medallist reached the semi-final stage of that competition, fending off stern competition from the likes of Denmark’s Anders Antonsen – currently placed third in the Road to Paris rankings, and Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia – currently placed tenth.

Updates From Elsewhere

In the women’s singles event, India will be represented by Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics medalist PV Sindhu, despite her recent quarter-final exit at the 2024 Spain Masters.

The pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has qualified in men’s doubles, whereas both Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand pairs are currently in contention for a women’s doubles quota. The former duo is currently ahead in the rankings, albeit they still will require exemplary results in the upcoming events to qualify.

There will not be any Indian pair in mixed doubles, with the nation’s highest-ranked pair of Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath being placed 42nd in the rankings.