Saturday, 2 Nov 2024

News | BWF Olympics

Kodai Naraoka is dominating the men’s singles standings in the Race to Paris Olympics qualifying lists, having reached the semifinals in four out of six individual events since May. With a total of 47,595 points, Naraoka, who holds the world No.4 spot, is currently leading the rankings, closely followed by YONEX All England champion Li Shi Feng. Reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, who has clinched victory in all three of his individual events in the qualifying period, is in third place with 43,315 points.

The qualification period for the Paris Olympics began on May 1, 2023, and will conclude on April 28, 2024. During this period, each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is allowed a maximum of two players in each singles category if both players are ranked within the top 16 of the Race to Paris rankings as of April 30, 2024. In doubles, each NOC can have two pairs if both pairs are within the top 8 of the Race to Paris rankings.

Several Indian men’s singles players are expected to be engaged in a fierce competition for qualification. HS Prannoy is currently leading the Indians at No.5, followed closely by Lakshya Sen. Kidambi Srikanth holds the 14th position, while rising stars Priyanshu Rajawat (No.34) and Mithun Manjunath (No.49) are also eyeing their chances, having achieved promising results recently.

In the women’s singles category, An Se Young has claimed the top spot in the Race to Paris rankings, having triumphed in four out of five individual events during the qualifying period. An is trailed by Akane Yamaguchi, Tai Tzu Ying, Ratchanok Intanon, He Bing Jiao, and reigning Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei.

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China has several formidable players vying for qualification, including Wang Zhi Yi (No.12), Han Yue (No.14), and Zhang Yi Man (No.22).

The men’s doubles category is highly competitive, with the top eight pairs representing different NOCs. These pairs include Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi (Japan), Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (China), Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae (Korea), Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (Malaysia), Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India), Olympic champions Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin (Chinese Taipei), Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark), and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Indonesia).

In women’s doubles, Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee (Indonesia Open winners) are leading the Race to Paris rankings, followed by Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong from the same country. Japan and Thailand also have two pairs each in the top eight, while Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu (No.11) and Li We Mei/Liu Xuan Xuan (No.20) represent China.

Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai are leading the mixed doubles rankings, closely followed by Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino, the recent Japan Open champions.

China has at least three strong pairs in contention for qualification, including Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping (No.3), Olympic silver medallists Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (No.4), and Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (No.16).

Among European pairs, Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra BØje hold the highest position at No.6, followed by Mathias Thyrri/Amalie Magelund (No.9). European Games champions Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek are ranked No.13.

For more details on Olympic qualifying, please visit Carnegiecentre.com.