India’s top badminton duo, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, have been handed a favorable draw for the upcoming Paris Olympics, which begins on July 26, with the badminton competition kicking off the following day. Ranked as the world’s No. 3 pair, Satwik and Chirag are seeded third and placed in Group C alongside Indonesia’s reigning All England champions Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (world No. 6), Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel (world No. 31), and the French pair Ronan Labar/Lucas Corvee (world No. 46).
The top two pairs from each group will progress to the quarter-finals, with a subsequent draw determining the knockout stage matchups.
India’s reigning Asian Games gold medalists, Satwik and Chirag, hold a 3-2 head-to-head record against their Indonesian rivals, having won the last three encounters since 2018. They are also undefeated against the German and French pairs, with head-to-head records of 1-0 and 2-0, respectively.
2024 has been an exceptional year for the Indian pair, who have reached the finals of four major tournaments—the Malaysia Open, India Open, French Open, and Thailand Open—winning the latter two. They boast an impressive 23-6 win-loss record for the year and have consistently remained in the world’s top three rankings, even achieving the No. 1 spot twice this year.
Group A features the world No. 1 pair Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang of China, who will compete against Tokyo 2020 bronze medalists Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia, Ben Lane/Sean Vendy of Great Britain, and the Canadian duo Dong Adam/Nyl Yakura. Meanwhile, Group B includes reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae of South Korea, who face challenges from France’s Christo Popov/Toma Jr Popov, Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren, and the Czech team of Ondrej Kral/Adam Mendrek.
In Group D, the reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, alongside World Championships silver medalists Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark, lead a group that also includes China’s Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi, Japan’s 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, and the American pair Vinson Chiu/Joshua Yuan.
Notably, the men’s doubles draw, initially delayed due to a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing involving two French pairs, has expanded to include 17 pairs, with Labar/Corvee being added to the competition.
