The countdown to Tokyo Olympics 2020 is less than 15 days for the major multi-sport event to start, know about the recently released badminton schedule and fixtures
The much awaited Olympic draws for the Badminton competition were revealed on Thursday by BWF at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, England. The draw ceremony was also live-streamed on the official BWF YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Badminton Draw And Schedule
Badminton matches will begin from 24th July, the day after the Opening Ceremony, and will conclude on 2nd August 2021. The sport will witness a total of 173 athletes (87 men and 86 women players) from 50 National Olympic Committees (NOC) compete in five events – two singles (men’s & women’s) and three doubles (men’s, women’s, and mixed) at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza at Tokyo.
The draw determined the grouping of the players and revealed the opponents they will face. In the singles disciplines, there are 14 groups: Group A till Group P (there are no group b and group o). Where in the doubles disciplines, there are 4 groups: Group A, B, C, and D.
The players who are seeded, their seeds are determined based on the Race to Tokyo – BWF Olympic Qualification.
Format for the Badminton Disciplines
Singles (Men’s & Women’s)
In singles, a total of 14 players are seeded. And those 14 seeds are placed in different groups, meaning each group will have a seeded player. With top seeds in the opposite groups i.e. No.1 seed in Group A and No.2 seed in Group P. The rest of the players were drawn randomly. Each group will consist of 3 players except for Women’s singles Group P (4 players). There are two half, seven groups in each; 1st Half contains Group A till Group H and 2nd Half contains Group I till Group P.
The group stage will be series of round-robin matches. The player topping each group advances to the Round of 16 and here the knockout stage starts. Whereas Group A and Group P topper, who are predicted to be the top two seeds will receive a bye and will directly play Quarter-finals (QF).
Round of 16 will be an elimination round, where the winners will advance to QF. Then the losing semi-finalists will compete in a bronze medal match.
Doubles (Men’s, Women’s and Mixed)
In doubles, 16 pairs are competing in each category. And 4 pairs will be seeded who will be placed in separate groups. The top seeds will be in the opposite group i.e. No.1 seed in Group A and No.2 seed in Group D. Same as singles, the rest of the players were randomly drawn. Each group will consist of 4 players.
The group stage will be series of round-robin matches. The top two pairs from each group will proceed to the Quarter-finals. Another draw will be held for the quarter-finalists. Then losing semi-finalists will compete in a bronze medal match.
Badminton Schedule and Matches at the Tokyo Olympics 2021
Men’s Singles
BREAKINGGGG
Badminton Group Stage Draw – Men's Singles
Only GROUP WINNERS go to R16.
WHO WILL QUALIFY?
24-28 Jul 2021: Group Stage
29 Jul 2021: Round of 16
31 Jul 2021: Quarter Finals
1 Aug 2021: Semifinals
2 Aug 2021: Finals & Bronze Medal Match#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/V0vvhHmFhH— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) July 8, 2021
Women’s Singles
BREAKINGGGG
Badminton Group Stage Draw – Women's Singles
Only GROUP WINNERS go to R16.
WHO WILL QUALIFY?
24-28 Jul 2021: Group Stage
29 Jul 2021: Round of 16
30 Jul 2021: Quarter Finals
31 Jul 2021: Semifinals
1 Aug 2021: Finals & Bronze Medal Match#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/CdbYmwoHEY— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) July 8, 2021
Men’s Doubles
BREAKINGGGG
Badminton Group Stage Draw – Men's Doubles
Top two go to QF! WHO WILL QUALIFY?
24-27 Jul 2021: Group Stage
29 Jul 2021: Quarter Finals
30 Jul 2021: Semifinals
31 Jul 2021: Finals & Bronze Medal Match#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/jfvYoDqOtI— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) July 8, 2021
Women’s Doubles
BREAKINGGGG
Badminton Group Stage Draw – Women's Doubles
Top two go to QF! WHO WILL QUALIFY?
24-27 Jul 2021: Group Stage
29 Jul 2021: Quarter Finals
31 Jul 2021: Semifinals
2 Aug 2021: Finals & Bronze Medal Match#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/iJM6skFFrQ— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) July 8, 2021
Mixed Doubles
BREAKINGGGG
Badminton Group Stage Draw – Mixed Doubles
Top two go to QF! WHO WILL QUALIFY?
XD
24-26 Jul 2021: Group Stage
28 Jul 2021: Quarter Finals
29 Jul 2021: Semifinals
30 Jul 2021: Finals & Bronze Medal Match#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/KVJgKglyrt— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) July 8, 2021
Tokyo Olympics Badminton Schedule: Indian Players And Their Fixtures
There are four Indian badminton players qualified for Tokyo Olympics who are competing in three categories; Women’s Singles, Men’s Singles, and Men’s Doubles
P. V. Sindhu (WS)
Sindhu is 6th seeded and allotted in Group J, placed in the second half of the draw. The Rio 2016 silver medalist and reigning world champion have relatively an easy group. As she will play her group stage matches against world No.34 from Hong Kong Cheung Ngan Yi and Israel’s world No. 58 Ksenia Polikarpova.
P. V. Sindhu’s head-to-head record against both the players is that she leads 5-0 against Cheung and they last met on tour in 2017. And against the 58th ranked Polikarpova, Sindhu has a 2-0 record, last played against each other in 2015.
If the seeded players finish at top of their respective groups, then Sindhu will likely face Denmark’s 13th seeded Mia Blichfeldt in the Round of 16. And if she can go through the Round of 16, Sindhu’s potential opponent in QF can be Akane Yamaguchi as they are placed in the same half.
B. Sai Praneeth (MS)
Sai Praneeth the bronze medalist at the 2019 BWF World Championships is seeded 13th and has been placed in Group D, in the first half of the draw. It is not that easy group stage for Sai Praneeth.
He will face Netherlands world No. 29 Mark Caljouw and Israel’s 47th ranked Misha Zilberman in the group stage.
It would be Sai Praneeth’s first meeting with Mark Caljouw who had an amazing spell at the 2021 All England Open reaching the semi-final. Against Zilberman, he leads 3-0 in head-to-head record. They recently met at Swiss Open 2021 where the Indian won the match in two easy games. Sai Praneeth at his best could progress to the knockout stage.
If the seeded players hold their place, finish at top of their respective groups; then Sai Praneeth will likely face Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus (8th seed) in the Round of 16. That would be a tough challenge and if goes through that his potential opponent in QF would be world No.1 Kento Momota.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty (MD)
The rising men’s doubles pair from India Satwiksairaj and Chirag, ranked 10th in the world has the toughest group among the Indian shutters.
They are placed in Group A with top seeds/world No. 1 pair from Indonesia Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/ Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, world No.3 Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin, and 18th ranked pair of Ben Lane/Sean Vendy from Great Britain.
Their head-to-head record against the No.1 pair, the ‘Minions’ nickname given by their fans is not that great, as the Indian pair trail 0-8 against the favourites. Satwik/Chirag will be meeting the Chinese Taipei pair for the first time; they have lost the only match they played against the Great Britain pair.
Performance at 2016 Rio Olympics
P. V. Sindhu will go all out as she will try to upgrade from her previous performance at Rio 2016, where she won the silver medal.
While B. Sai Praneeth and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj/ Chirag will make their Olympic debut for India at Tokyo Olympics 2021.
Indian shutters share their thoughts about their respective draws
P.V. Sindhu said:
“It’s a good draw in the group stage. The Hong Kong girl plays well and it’s going to be a good match as everybody is going to be in top form, I hope I do well. When it comes to pre-quarters I think every match is important so I will take it match by match. This is Olympics and it is not going to be easy, so each point is very important,” in a release issued by the Badminton Association of India.
B. Sai Praneeth said
“I think the draw is not so tough and not so easy. I have to be 100% to win all the matches. The lineup is good and it will be a good match for me.”
Men’s doubles coach Mathias Boe said:
“I can see us beat all three other pairs and it’s a very even group which means even if you lose a match, you are still in the game because nobody really knows what’s going on in this group and what will happen. We’ll focus on preparing as much as possible in the last few weeks. We will attack on court and stay positive and enjoy our game. Hopefully, we get good results. I am positive; it’s a good challenge for us.”
The Indian badminton contingent will consist of nine members, four players and three foreign coaches, and two physios. The coaches going for Tokyo Olympics 2021 are Sindhu’s coach Park Tae Sang, Sai Praneeth’s coach Agus Dwi Santosa, and men’s doubles coach Mathias Boe.
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