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In sports like shooting, wrestling, hockey, badminton and boxing, which have traditionally been strong events for India, there are hopes for podium finishes at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
India is sending one of its strongest contingents to this year's games. If Indian athletes are able to perform according to their potential, then the best ever Olympic Games performance for India is very much on the cards.
But badminton is one exception, where the Indian contingent is this Olympics is weaker compared to the last Olympics.
India has been able to qualify for only 3 of the 5 badminton events in this year's games, viz. Men's Singles (Sai Praneeth), Women's Singles (PV Sindhu) and Men's Doubles (Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty ).
Indian badminton stars missing from the Tokyo Olympics
1) Saina Nehwal (Women's Singles Badminton)
Saina Nehwal, the former world number 1 in Women's Singles badminton, has been one of India's biggest sporting icons in recent years. Her London Olympics bronze medal winning performance inspired a whole generation of young Indian stars to take up the sport of badminton.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Saina Nehwal crashed out before the knockout stages because of a knee injury. After that she made a tremendous comeback and won a World championship and Commonwealth Games badminton medal in the subsequent years.
However from 2019 onwards, her form suddenly slumped as a result of which her ranking also dipped and she went outside the top 16 of the world, after almost a decade. Badminton fans across the country hoped that she would be able to pull up her socks in time, and make the cut for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, the cancelation of tournaments because of the 2nd wave of Covid 19 pandemic from April 2021 onwards, did not help Saina's cause. On 28th May 2021, BWF confirmed that no further tournaments will be held in the qualifying window for the Tokyo Olympics. Saina was ranked number 22 in the Race to Tokyo ranking at the time.
As per BWF Olympic qualifying rules, 2 players from a country can qualify for a badminton event if both of them are ranked inside the top 16. As Saina was the 2nd highest ranked Indian shuttler after PV Sindhu (ranked no 7) but was outside the top 16, she could not make the final cut.
2) Kidambi Srikanth (Men's Singles Badminton):
Kidambi Srikanth, the former world number one in men's singles badminton, was another big disappointment. He lost out on his spot in the Tokyo Olympics as he finished in 20th spot in the Race to Tokyo badminton rankings.
Srikanth finished behind his compatriot, B Sai Praneeth, who qualified after finishing in the 13th spot. This is a big disappointment for Srikanth for sure, as he has been India's number one men's badminton player for the last 5-6 years, only to be overtaken by Sai Praneeth at the very last moment before the games.
This will also affect India's medal chances in this event as Srikanth's big match experience is much more than that of Praneeth, which is very important to win a medal in these big events.
3) Ashwini Ponnappa (Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles)
Ashwini Ponnappa has been one of the best doubles badminton specialists India has ever produced. Her pairing with Jwala Gutta was one of the best in the world. They won India their first ever World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals in the doubles event of badminton.
After Jwala's retirement, Ashwini took over the mantle of the best doubles player from her, and formed a women's doubles pairing with Sikky Reddy (World rank 27) and mixed doubles pairing with Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy (World rank 22).
However, Ashwini has been unable to replicate the success that she achieved earlier with her new partners.
In the Race to Tokyo rankings, her Women's doubles pairing with Sikky Reddy finished in 26th position while her mixed doubles team with Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy finished in the 27th position. The ranking achieved in both Doubles and Mixed Doubles was not good enough for qualification.
Ashwini's absence from the Tokyo Olympics will be a big blow for India's chances, especially in the doubles badminton events.
