India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty Gets Favourable Draw At Paris Olympics In Badminton Men’s Doubles

New Delhi: India’s top-ranked badminton men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been given favourable draw at the Paris Olympics, which starts on July 26. The Indian duo, who claimed the Thomas Cup gold and Commonwealth Games gold in 2022, have been seeded third and are one of the favourites to win a gold medal.
Satwiksairaj and Chirag have been drawn in Group C where their toughest opponent will be Indonesia’s world no. 6 combination of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto. They also have world No. 31 German combination of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel and world No. 43 Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar of France in the group.
Notably, the Indian pair are on a three-match unbeaten streak against the Alfian-Ardianto. Their last win against the Indonesian pair came in 2023. However, the combination of Alfian and Ardianto won the All England Open this year. As far as Corvee and Labar are concerned, the Indian duo played the French pair twice in their career, winning on both occasions.
17 pairs have been divided in four groups in the badminton men’s doubles at the Paris Olympics. While three groups have four pairs each, the fourth and final group has five pairings. The men’s doubles draw was postponed on Friday due to a Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) hearing over the number of pairs in the draw.
The sport’s World governing body had to postpone the draw after CAS ordered BWF to recommend to the International Olympic Committee that Corvée-Labar be included in the Olympic Games. The inclusion of the French pair made it a revised 17-pair men’s doubles draw, instead of the 16 pairs that originally qualified.