The BWF Swiss Open kicks off the final 40 days of the qualification window that the Badminton World Federation [BWF] have set out for the Paris Olympics, and battles for a ticket to the big one are gaining pace now. The window, which started on May 1, 2023 will close on April 28, 2024.
Before we proceed, though, a reminder of how many athletes will go to Paris -- 35 athletes each in the two singles events. If two athletes from the same country have to qualify, they both must be in the top 16 of the BWF Race to Paris (RTP) rankings by the end of April.
Meanwhile, the list is shorter for doubles, with 16 teams each going to Paris across the three doubles disciplines. Only two teams per country are allowed, and that is only if the two teams are ranked in the top 8 of the RTP.
We look at India's prospects discipline-wise, and with a sharper context of the upcoming BWF Swiss Open 2024 in mind:
Men's Singles
HS Prannoy's ticket to Paris is already booked, so his decision to take time off and focus on physical recovery makes sense. It's the second spot, though, where it gets tricky.
Lakshya Sen is in the top 16, just. Ranked RTP #15 after two stunning runs to the semifinals in the French Open and All England Championship, he needs to keep his new-found momentum to stay within the qualification zone. The next closest Indian is Kidambi Srikanth, who's RTP #26. He needs to go on a strong run, starting at the Swiss Open, to seriously challenge for a spot.
In Basel, Lakshya will start against Leon Jun Hao of Malaysia before a potential second-round match against the in-form Frenchman Christo Popov. Win that, and he could be in for a potential quarter against top-seed Lee Zii Jia (or Srikanth). Srikanth starts against Wang Tzu Wei before a likely second-round clash against LZJ.
There's more Indian interest, though, with Priyanshu Rajawat (RTP #32) taking on fourth seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong and Kiran George (RTP #35) taking on Takuma Obayashi of Japan in the opening round.
Women's Singles
PV Sindhu is currently RTP #13 and with the next Indian ranked #40 (Aakarshi Kashyap), she should have a straightforward march to Paris. But after having shown glimpses of returning to her old self in Paris and Birmingham over the past fortnight, she'll want a deep run in Basel to keep that mojo going.
Seeded fourth, she starts off with a clash against Yvonne Li (who retired hurt against Sindhu last week at All England). A win there and Japan's Tomoko Miyazaki awaits... but a tougher test would be in the quarters where she takes on Paris-chasing Aya Ohori (RTP #11, second-highest Japanese player, seven places below Akane Yamaguchi and just six above Nozomi Okuhara) or Paris-chasing Busanan Ongbamrungphan (RTP #20, one place below Pornapawee Chochuwong and six below Ratchanok Intanon)
Aakarshi, meanwhile, starts with a tough draw against Michelle Li. Win that and one of Okuhara or Intanon await her in the second round.
Men's Doubles
World no. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are RTP #2 and have their Paris berths sealed. They, like HSP, are skipping this tournament to focus on recovery. With that, there will be no Indian presence in MD at Basel.
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Women's Doubles
This here is a two-way battle between Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (RTP #20) and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand (RTP #26) to see who'll go. With only a max of two teams per country allowed, it is almost a certainty that whoever of Ash-Tan and Gaya-Tree finish the RTP higher will go to Paris. (For instance, China have five teams in the top 20, Japan have another five, South Korea have three).
Ash-Tan begin their campaign against Rose-Puspitasari of Indonesia before a potential second-round match against Japan's Hirokami-Kato (RTP #30). On paper, the draw gives them a relatively straightforward run to the semis where they're likely to face top seeds (RTP #9) Rahayu-Ramadhanti of Indonesia.
Incidentally, the top seeds get going against another Indian pair, the Panda sisters Rutuparna and Swetaparna (#48 in RTP).
Gaya-Tree are on the other side of the draw and start against Annie and Kerry Xu of the USA, before a possible second-round meeting with compatriots Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra (RTP #75). Their side of the draw is stacked with Paris-chasing Kusuma-Pratiwi (RTP #18, second-highest ranked Indonesian pair) a potential quarterfinal opponent and Denmark's Fruergaard-Thygsen (RTP #22) or Nakanishi-Iwanaga (RTP #12, fourth highest ranked Japanese team) potential semifinal opponents.
Women's doubles is the most heavily represented event for Indians in Basel, with Ashwini Bhat - Shikha Gautam (RTP #59) making it five Indian pairs. Bhat-Gautam have a tough opener, taking on RTP #17 Yeung-Yeung of Hong Kong.
Mixed Doubles
There's no Indian participation at the Swiss Open, and there's next to no chance there will be Indian participation at the Olympics in this event - the highest ranked Indians are Satish Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath, and they're #44 in the RTP.