We are just under a week into the start of the 2016 Rio Olympics and India are yet to open their account in the medal's tally*. Several near misses and some crushing losses have meant that the contingent are still awaiting the moment when one of the athletes could stand on the podium.
On Thursday evening the seven-member Indian badmintion contingent will take to the courts at the Riocentro Pavillions, in their respective opening group matches, hoping to get their campaign off to a good start.
A lot has been spoken about the Indian Singles contingent to Rio, with two debutants joining Saina Nehwal in their quest to win a medal at Rio
PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will very well know that this event will be unlike any other where they have competed in their careers so far. The former has in the past shown that she has what it takes to succeed at the big stage, having won two World Championship bronze medals, but she has been inconsistent at other events, swinging between opening round exits and last four exits.
She has a tricky opponent in the form of Michelle Li in her group but her big test will come at the Round of 16 stage where she is likely to be up against Tzu Ying Tai and if she comes through that test she could face Wang Yihan in the quarters.
It is just not the 1st debutant who has a tough draw to counter. Kidambi Srikanth has headaches of his own and like Sindhu is expected to progress through to the Round of 16 ,where he will have Jan O Jorgenson and if he gets through that a possible match up against Lin Dan in the quarters.
That leaves us with the most experienced one of the lot. Saina Nehwal played her first competitive competition 2016 in March earlier this year and ever since then has gone from strength-to-strength as far as fitness is concerned. Seeded 5th in the competition, the Indian has got the easiest of groups, but will have a stiff task come the quarterfinal, where she is likely to face Li Xuerui and if she comes through that, then world champion Carolina Marin awaits her in the semis.
It isn’t an easy draw for the Singles shuttlers, but like its always said, there is nothing like an easy match at the Olympics.
In the doubles, the situation is not too dissimilar.
Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy, surprise selections for Rio have been put in the same group as second seeds Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan in their group. As Parupalli Kashyap told Sportskeeda, their qualification in itself was a big achievement and any group would have been difficult for them. They will however look to make the most of this opportunity and put forth a good performance that would help them create an impression on the world stage.
If Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy don’t carry many hopes, then Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa surely do. The duo, who will be competing in their second Olympics, will have a tough opening contest on Friday, where they will face off against the top seeds, Ayaka Takahashi/Mitasu Matsutomo of Japan, but can expect to have relatively easier matches in the following two contests.
It promises to be an intriguing few days of action from the courts at Rio and hopefully at the end of it, we would have a second Olympic medal winner in as many edition of the Games.
