The Badminton World Federation (BWF) unveiled the draw for the forthcoming World Championships, to be held in Paris from August 25 to 31, on Wednesday.
There are seven Indians in the fray at the marquee event. However, Lakshya Sen, the Indian hope in men’s singles along with HS Prannoy, has been handed a tough draw as he is set to face World No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China in the Round of 64 at the Adidas Arena.
Lakshya made a fourth-place finish in the 2024 Olympics – the best by an Indian shuttler at the Games – at the same venue a year ago. He will hope to replicate that form to have his best shot at the biennial Championships. But chances are that he might face an arduous task from the first round itself, given his recent trail of poor performances marked by inconsistency, lack of firepower and confidence.
Chance to recalibrate Paris 2024 form
Lakshya, however, will hope to capitalise on his third-place finish at the Macau Open Super 300 earlier this month. His opponent, Shi, has been in phenomenal form, winning three of the season’s four Super 1000 events, including the Malaysia Open, All England Open and most recently the China Open – equivalent to tennis’ Grand Slam – apart from finishing third in two tournaments. His success rate in eight tournaments shows what he is capable of.
Known as a player with solid defence and variety of strokes in the armoury, Shi is famous for bringing into effect deception, command over the net and extensive court coverage with long handles and taller frame, amplified by his elegant footwork. Shi, however, is not an explosive player, going for the kill from the word go. His game is built on precision, technique and game reading.
Lakshya, at his best, is still capable of forcing the best to dig deeper and can even stun them, but his inability to maintain form is his biggest problem. In the semifinal at the Paris Olympics, he suffered a slump in form after forcing the decider and lost the bronze medal to Lee Zii Jia despite looking poised to make history as the first Indian male shuttler to win an Olympic medal. Shi’s form and consistency will put him to the test.
Shi will be more determined to recover from the setback of the Olympics, where, despite being the top seed, he was stunned in the quarterfinal by Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Prannoy, who is in the bottom half of the draw, will return to the World Championships as the reigning bronze medallist. However, a lot of things have changed in world badminton as well as in his fitness and form in the past two years. A player who once looked solid, stunning and dangerous for any opponent, with the capacity of pulling off astounding results, Prannoy lost his touch due to a bout of back injury suffered in 2023 – unarguably his best season on the BWF circuit, including the Asian Games medal in singles. A bout of chikungunya made him even weaker, ruining his hopes of retaining the form for the Paris Olympics, where he made a group-stage exit.
Prannoy could not regain his midas touch ever since. And at the World Championships, he runs into second-seeded Anders Antonsen, one of the most improved players on the BWF circuit in recent times. Antonsen will be Denmark’s lone hope in men’s singles at the Worlds in the absence of Viktor Axelsen, who is currently recovering from back surgery.
Satwik-Chirag – India’s best bet
India’s best shot at the Worlds is expected from the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – the bronze medallists from the 2022 edition held in Tokyo. Their shock exit from the quarterfinals at last year’s Olympics continues to hurt the Indian fans as much as them. A lot was expected from them, given their form in the last few years and their credentials as skilled champions.
Since that setback, injuries to both players saw them go down in the rankings before recalibrating to the top 10. Satwik and Chirag got a bye in the first round, and they may possibly face the other Indian pair in the fray, Hariharan Amsakarunan-Ruben Kumar in the second. For Hariharan and Ruben to advance to the Round of 32, they have to beat Liu Kuang Heng and Yang Po Han of Chinese Taipei.
Given the nature of the initial draw, Satwik and Chirag are expected to fly deeper into the tournament, where they could potentially face former World No. 1 pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, now slipped to World No. 6. But the Chinese managed to beat the Indians in the Round of 16 at the Japan Open for the sixth time in their career, against the Indians’ two wins.
Men’s doubles is poised to deliver thrillers, with World No. 2 Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the bottom half of the draw. A year ago, the Malaysians ruined the Indians’ dream of winning the Olympic medal in the quarterfinals. Aaron and Soh enjoy an overwhelming 11-3 head-to-head record against Satwik and Chirag, and they are unbeaten in their last three meetings. But for Satwik and Chirag, the focus is more on playing at the best of their capacity and beating opponents in skills and strategy rather than in firepower and smashes. For them, the third round will be equally tricky, with Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Kittinupong Kedren expected to advance.
Sindhu – the lone hope
In women’s singles, India will be represented by one of the most decorated shuttlers in BWF World Championships history, PV Sindhu, who has won five medals, including a gold in 2019, two silver and as many bronze medals. Sindhu may not have to worry about the initial rounds as she has been handed an easy draw against Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria in the first round and Malaysia’s Letshanaa Karupathevan in the second.
Sindhu’s main challenge may come in the Round of 16, where she will in all probability run into the current World No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi of China. Although the two players share a 2-2 record, Wang is unbeaten in the last five matches. The Chinese also won the China Open Super 1000 and finished runner-up in a series of events this yeear. In contrast, Sindhu’s best finish this year is a quarterfinal at the India Open Super 750, coming in January.
However, Sindhu at the World Championships is still a force to reckon with, given her credentials as a marquee event player. But form will be tricky.