Badminton ace PV Sindhu says she is “going all-out” in her quest to become the first Indian to win an unprecedented third individual Olympic medal in Paris, drawing on her experience from a successful past. Sindhu stands on the brink of history as she pursues the gold medal in the upcoming Games, having won a silver and bronze in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo edition respectively. In an exclusive conversation on JioCinema’s ‘The Dreamers,’ Sindhu spoke about her unwavering focus on making history at Paris, though it is going to be an extremely difficult task for the Indian star.

“That third medal at Paris definitely motivates me, and I am going all-out to get that gold medal. For me, the Olympics is where I give my 200%,” Sindhu said.

“The journeys in 2016 and 2020 were wonderful, filled with immense effort and unforgettable moments.

“As I prepare for Paris 2024, it’s a fresh start, and I have to give my 100% no matter what.” Ranked among the world’s top players, Sindhu draws from her past experiences to fuel her quest for gold.

“There are a lot of experiences from my previous outings at the Olympics that I will take into Paris 2024, but I don’t want to get overconfident thinking about the medals.

“I hope I can fulfil the hope of the nation and get the third medal because getting three consecutive medals is not a joke. My mindset is focused on winning the gold and this gives me a lot of motivation and confidence.” She spoke at length about her preparation for the mega event, which will run from July 26 to August 11.

“My preparations are focused on putting in the hard work while being smart and focused on that particular day.” The former world champion understands the fierce competition that awaits and respects the calibre of her opponents.

“The Olympics is extremely competitive, and all the athletes are at their peak. The top 10-15 players in the world are of the same standard, be it the likes of AN Se Young, Akane Yamaguchi, Carolina Marin, or TAI Tzu Ying.

“There are no easy points at the Olympics, and we need to play hard for every point we score against an opponent. Anything can happen at the Olympics; one small mistake can change everything.” Sindhu also shared her perspective on working with Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone, terming it her good fortune to be associated with the 1980 All England champion.

“This time, we have a whole new team with Prakash (Padukone) sir as my mentor and Agus (Dwi Santoso) as the new coach. Our practice is focused at getting everything perfect and to the point.

“It is my fortune that Prakash sir is my mentor and a part of my journey, and I hope his support can help me win that medal.” Currently ranked 13th in the world, Sindhu’s illustrious career boasts of numerous accolades.

She has won five BWF World Championship medals, including a gold, and an Olympic silver and bronze, making her the only Indian to achieve this feat.

Her Commonwealth Games achievements include gold in 2022, silver in 2018, and bronze in 2014 in the women’s singles event, along with gold in 2018 and silver in 2022 in mixed teams.

Additionally, she claimed silver in women’s singles at the 2018 Asian Games and bronze in women’s teams at the 2014 Asian Games.

When Saina Nehwal won bronze in the London 2012 Olympics, few would’ve expected another badminton player, then ranked in the top 30, to eclipse Saina’s legacy. 12 years later, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu has done that and much more. Sindhu now stands as one of only two Indians to ever win two individual Olympic medals, and enters Paris 2024 aiming to become the first Indian ever to win three. Come the end of the Paris Olympics, Sindhu could well go down with a greater legacy than any Indian athlete ever.

Born to national volleyball players in Hyderabad, Sindhu grew under the tutelage of former Indian badminton star Pullela Gopichand, the same place where Saina also trained. But in 2014, as Saina left the Gopichand Badminton Academy, Sindhu replaced her as the face. Not too long after, she would be replacing Saina as the face of Indian badminton altogether.

Saina came into Rio 2016 as the higher-seeded Indian. But Sindhu trumped the odds, going all the way to the final. As India endured a disappointing Olympics – securing only two medals, four less than London 2012 – Sindhu’s silver medal shone bright. She even won the first set against World no. 1 Carolina Marin, but fell short in the end.

Seeded sixth for Tokyo 2020, Sindhu lost her semi-final despite not having dropped a set before the game. Nonetheless, she bounced back to win bronze, making it two Olympic medals.

Sindhu racked up several medals after 2016, peaking with gold at the 2019 BWF World Championships, becoming the only Indian badminton player to ever achieve it. In 2018, Sindhu won gold in the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games. Four years later, Sindhu won gold in the women’s singles event, and also completed a collection of winning a medal of every colour at the CWG. To date, she boasts five medals each at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Ranked 13th in the world heading into Paris 2024, Sindhu is no more an overwhelming favourite. She may not even be India’s brightest badminton hope, with men’s doubles duo Satwik-Chirag making waves. But she has the experience of delivering on the biggest stage, and the opportunity to win the third colour of medal at the Olympics too.

Paris Olympics 2024 is all set to kick off on July 26. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday announced that 117 athletes, including seven reserves, will be part of India’s contingent at the Games. While stars like Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Nikhat Zareen, Mirabai Chanu and Vinesh Phogat will be seen competing at the mega event, big names like Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia — who bagged silver and bronze medals respectively at Tokyo Olympics — failed to qualify for the tournament.

Here is the complete list of Indian athletes who qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 –

Athletics (27 +2)

Men:

Sarvesh Kushare – Men’s High Jump

Suraj Panwar – Marathon race walk mixed relay

Akshdeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Bisht – Men’s 20km Racewalk

Kishore Jena, Neeraj Chopra – Men’s Javelin Throw

Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh – Men’s 4x400m Relay

Avinash Sable – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – Men’s Shot Put

Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveel Chithravel – Men’s Triple Jump

Jeswin Aldrin – Men’s Long Jump

Women:

Annu Rani- Women’s Javelin Throw

Parul Chaudhary- Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, Women’s 5000m

Kiran Pahal – Women’s 400m, Women’s 4x400m relay

Jyothi Yarraji – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Ankita Dhyani – Women’s 5000m

Priyanka Goswami – Women’s 20km Racewalk, Marathon race walk mixed relay

Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR- Women’s 4x400m relay

Athletics reserves –

Prachi, Mijo Chacko Kurian

Archery (6)

Men’s Recurve

Dhiraj Bommadevara

Tarundeep Rai

Pravin Jadhav

Women’s Recurve

Bhajan Kaur

Deepika Kumari

Ankita Bhakat

Badminton (7)

Men:

HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen – Singles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty – Doubles

Women:

PV Sindhu – Singles

Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto – Doubles

Boxing (6)

Men:

Nishant Dev – 71kg

Amit Panghal – 51kg

Women:

Nikhat Zareen – 50kg

Preeti Pawar – 54kg

Jaismine Lamboria – 57kg

Lovlina Borgohain – 75kg

Equestrian (1)

Anush Agarwalla – Dressage

Golf (4)

Men:

Gaganjeet Bhullar

Shubhankar Sharma

Women:

Aditi Ashok

Diksha Dagar

Hockey (16 +3)

Men

Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Men’s hockey team reserves

Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak

Judo (1)

Tulika Maan – Women’s +78kg

Rowing (1)

Balraj Panwar – Men’s single scull

Sailing (2)

Men:

Vishnu Saravanan – Men’s dinghy

Women:

Nethra Kumanan – Women’s dinghy

Shooting (21)

Men:

Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta (10m Air Rifle M)

Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale (50m Rifle 3 Positions M)

Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema (10m Air Pistol M)

Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu (25m RFP M)

Prithviraj Tondaiman – Men’s Trap

Anantjeet Singh Naruka – Men’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Women:

Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita (10m Air Rifle W)

Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil (50m Rifle 3 Positions W)

Rhythm Sangwan (10m Air Pistol W)

Manu Bhaker – (10m Air Pistol W, 25m Pistol W)

Esha Singh (25m Pistol W)

Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh – Women’s Trap

Maheshwari Chauhan – Women’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Raiza Dhillon – Women’s Skeet

Swimming (2)

Men:

Srihari Nataraj – Men’s 100m Backstroke

Women:

Dhinidhi Desinghu – Women’s 200m Freestyle

Table Tennis (6+2)

Men:

Sharath Kamal

Harmeet Desai

Manav Thakkar

Women:

Manika Batra

Sreeja Akula

Archana Kamath

Table tennis reserves

Sathiyan G, Ayhika Mukherjee

Tennis (3)

Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji – Men’s Doubles

Sumit Nagal – Men’s Singles

Weightlifting (1)

Mirabai Chanu – Women’s 49kg

Wrestling (6)

Men:

Aman Sehrawat – Men’s 57kg

Women:

Vinesh Phogat – Women’s 50kg

Antim Panghal – Women’s 53kg

Anshu Malik – Women’s 57kg

Nisha Dahiya – Women’s 68kg

Reetika Hooda- – Women’s 76kg

India will be represented by 117 athletes at this month’s Paris Olympics after the sports ministry cleared the final contingent that also features 140 support staff and officials, of which 72 have been approved at “cost to the government” to meet the “requirements” of the travelling sportspersons. The only qualified athlete missing from the list is shot-putter Abha Khatua. The Games will run from July 26 to August 11. Khatua, who made the cut through world rankings quota, has been dropped without any explanation after her name was found missing from the World Athletics’ list of Olympic participants a few days ago.

There is no word yet on whether her name has been knocked off owing to injury, a doping violation or any other technical issue.

The rest of the contingent that has been cleared is on expected lines with London Olympics bronze medal-winning former shooter Gagan Narang as chef-de-mission. Narang is also a vice president in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

“The permissible limit for stay of support personnel in the Games Village against accreditation as per norms of the Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic Games is 67 including 11 1OA Contingent Officials, which includes five Medical Team Members,” stated a letter from the ministry to IOA President P T Usha, explaining the ratio of support staff allowed as per the size of the contingent.

“For catering to the requirements of the athletes, additional coaches and other support staff numbering 72 have been approved at cost to the Government and arrangements for their stay have been made in Hotels/in locations outside the Games Village,” it added.

Despite Khatua’s absence, athletics will make for the biggest group in the contingent with 29 names (11 women and 18 men), followed by shooting (21) and hockey (19).

Table tennis will be represented by eight players, while badminton (7) will feature seven competitors, including two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu.

Wrestling (6), archery (6), and boxing (6) will have six representatives each, followed by golf (4), tennis (3), swimming (2), sailing (2), and one each for equestrian, judo, rowing and weightlifting.

The shooting contingent, which is the second biggest, consists of 11 women and 10 men, while table tennis will have four players each in both categories.

Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu is the lone weightlifter in the contingent and will compete in women’s 49kg category.

In Tokyo Olympics, India were represented by a 119-member contingent, and the country logged its best-ever performance of seven medals, including the historic javelin throw gold by Neeraj Chopra. Chopra will be there in Paris to defend his medal.

Besides, there will 21 contingent officials of which 11 will be accommodated at the Games Village, including Narang, two Deputy Chef de Mission, Press Attache, two Headquarter Officials and five medical team members.

The remaining 10 officials (eight medical team members, social media attache and a team official) will be accommodated in hotels outside the Games Village, the cost of which will be borne by the government.

Shooting (18) will have the highest number of support staff, which includes one High Performance Director and six coaches, who will stay at the Games Village while the remaining 11 (four coaches, four physios, two psychologists, one strength and conditioning expert) will stay in hotels.

Athletics will have 17 support staff members, followed by wrestling (12), boxing (11), hockey (10), table tennis (9), badminton (9), golf (7), equestrian (5), archery (4), sailing (4), weightlifting (4) tennis (3), swimming (2) and judo (1).

The ministry letter further stated that Air Commodore Prashant Arya, Air Attache in Embassy of India at Paris will be Olympic Attache, who will have accreditation, and will be visiting the Games Village and competition venues to take care of any issues requiring assistance and intervention of the Embassy.

The golf competition will be conducted at the Le Golf National in Guyancourt, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, which is around 42km from Paris. To ensure hassle-free travel and practice arrangements, the Indian golf contingent will stay at a hotel near the venue instead of the Games Village.

“…accordingly arrangements for accommodation for members of the Golf Team, including players, coaches, physio and caddy at the request of the Golf players and Indian Golf Union have been made in a Hotel near the competition venue,” the ministry said in its letter.

In a bid to avoid doping embarrassment in Paris, the government has asked the IOA and concerned federations to take appropriate measures.

“The IOA, SAI, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and concerned National Sports Federations may take appropriate measures for conducting the dope tests. IOA may also ensure fitness of the team/individual sportsperson prior to their departure,” it said.

Besides, the Paris Organising Committee will provide three cars for the Indian contingent without drivers.

“Embassy of India at Paris has been requested to assist in identification and temporary employment for these drivers,” the ministry letter stated. 

Paris Olympics 2024 are just around the corner and the anticipation of the fans is increasing day by day. The quadrennial event will kick-start from July 26 and will conclude on August 11. A total of 117 athletes will be sent by India in their contingent, which includes the likes of two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu and 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra. Athletics will nonetheless make for the biggest group in the contingent with 29 names (11 women and 18 men), followed by shooting (21) and hockey (19).

Ahead of the much-awaited Paris Olympics, let’s have a look at India’s schedule:

25th July, Thursday

Archery – Women’s Individual Ranking Round (1 pm) and Men’s Individual Ranking Round

26th July, Friday

Opening Ceremony

27th July, Saturday

Hockey– India v New Zealand

Badminton – Men’s Singles Group Stage, Women’s Singles Group Stage, Men’s Doubles Group Stage, Women’s Doubles Group Stage

Boxing- Prelims Round of 32 Rowing- Men’s Single Sculls Heats

Shooting- 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team qualification, 10m Air Rifle medal matches, 10m Air Pistol qualification, 10m Air Pistol qualification

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Singles Prelims, Round of 64 Tennis – 1st round matches – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles

28th July, Sunday

Archery – Women’s Team Round of 16 to Finals

Rowing – Men’s Single Sculls Repechage round

Shooting – 10m Air Rifle Women’s Qualification, 10m Air Pistol Men’s Final, 10m Air Rifle Men’s Qualification, 10m Air Pistol Women’s Final

Swimming – Men’s 100m Backstroke Heats, Men’s 100m Backstroke semi-final, Women’s 200m Freestyle Heats, Women’s 200m Freestyle semi-final

29th July, Monday

Archery – Men’s Team Round of 16 to Finals

Hockey – India v Argentina (4:15 pm)

Rowing – Men’s Single Sculls semi-final E/F

Shooting – Trap Men’s Qualification, 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Qualification, 10m Air Rifle Women’s Final, 10m Air Rifle Men’s Final

Swimming – Men’s 100m Backstroke Final, Women’s 200m Freestyle Final

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Singles- Round of 64 & Round of 32 Tennis- 2nd round matches

30th July, Tuesday

Archery – Women’s Individual Round of 64 and Round of 32, Men’s Individual Round of 64 and Round of 32

Equestrian – Dressage Individual Day 1

Hockey – India v Ireland – 4:45 pm

Rowing – Men’s Single Sculls Quarter Finals

Shooting – Trap Women’s Qualification – Day 1, 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team medal matches, Trap Men’s Final

Tennis – Round 3 Matches

31st July, Wednesday

Boxing – Quarter Finals

Equestrian – Dressage Individual Day 2

Rowing – Men’s Single Sculls semi-final

Shooting – 50m Rifle 3 Pos. Men’s Qualification, Trap Women’s final

Table Tennis – Round of 16

Tennis – Men’s Doubles semi-finals

1st August, Thursday

Athletics – Men’s 20km Race Walk, Women’s 20km Race Walk (11 AM onwards)

Badminton – Men’s & Women’s Doubles quarter-final, Men’s & Women’s Singles Round of 16

Hockey – India v Belgium – 1:30 pm Golf – Men’s Round 1

Judo – Women’s 78+ kg Round of 32 to Finals

Rowing – Men’s Single Sculls semi-final A/B

Sailing – Men’s & Women’s Dinghy Race 1-10

Shooting – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men’s Final, 50m Rifle 3 Pos. Women’s Qualification

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Singles quarter-final

Tennis – Men’s Singles quarter-final

2nd August, Friday

Archery – Mixed Team Round of 16 to Finals

Athletics – Men’s Shot Put Qualification

Badminton- Women’s Doubles semi-final, Men’s Doubles semi-final, Men’s Singles quarter-final

Hockey- India v Australia – 4:45 pm

Golf – Men’s Round 2 Rowing- Men’s Single Sculls Finals

Shooting – Skeet Men’s Qualification – Day 1, 25m Pistol Women’s Qualifiers, 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women’s Final

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Singles semi-final

Tennis – Men’s Singles semi-final, Men’s Doubles medal matches

3rd August, Saturday

Archery – Women’s Individual Round of 16 to Finals

Athletics – Men’s Shot Put Final

Badminton – Women’s Singles quarter-final, Women’s Doubles Medal matches

Boxing – Quarter Finals, Women’s 60kg – semi-final

Golf – Men’s Round 3

Shooting – Skeet Men’s Qualification – Day 2, Skeet Women’s Qualification – Day 1, 25m Pistol Women’s Final – Skeet Men’s Final

Table Tennis – Women’s Singles medal matches

Tennis – Men’s Singles medal matches

4th August, Sunday

Archery – Men’s Individual Round of 16 to Finals

Athletics – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Round 1 (1:35 pm), Men’s Long Jump Qualification

Badminton – Women’s Singles semi-final, Men’s Singles semi-final, Men’s Doubles Medal matches

Boxing – semi-final

Equestrian – Dressage Individual Grand Prix Freestyle

Hockey – Men’s Quarter Finals Golf- Men’s Round 4

Shooting – 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men’s Qual-Stage 1, Skeet Women’s Qualification – Day 2, Skeet Women’s Final

Table Tennis – Men’s Singles medal matches

5th August, Monday

Athletics – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Round 1, Women’s 5000m Final

Badminton – Women’s Singles medal matches), Men’s Singles medal matches

Shooting – Skeet Mixed Team Qualification, 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men’s Final, Skeet Mixed Team medal match

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Team Round of 16

Wrestling – Women’s 68 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final

6th August, Tuesday

Athletics – Men’s Javelin Throw qualification, Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Final, Men’s Long Jump Final

Boxing – Semi-final, Women’s 60kg – Final

Hockey – Men’s semi-final

Sailing – Men’s & Women’s Dinghy medal race

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Team quarter-final

Wrestling – Women’s 68 kg semi-final to medal matches, Women’s 50 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final

7th August, Wednesday

Athletics – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Final, Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay, Women’s 100m Hurdles Round 1, Women’s

Javelin Throw Qualification, Men’s High Jump Qualification), Men’s Triple Jump Qualification

Boxing – Men’s 63.5kg, Men’s 80kg Finals

Golf – Women’s Round 1

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Team quarter-final, Men’s Team semi-final

Weightlifting – Women’s 49 kg

Wrestling – Women’s 50 kg semi-final to medal matches, Women’s 53 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final

8th August, Thursday

Athletics – Men’s Javelin Throw Final, Women’s 100m Hurdles Repechage, Women’s Shot Put qualification

Boxing – Men’s 51kg, Women’s 54kg Finals

Hockey – Men’s medal matches

Golf – Women’s Round 2

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s semi-final Wrestling- Women’s 57 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final, Women’s 53 kg semi-final to medal matches, Men’s 57 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final

9th August, Friday

Athletics – Women’s 4x400m Relay Round 1, Men’s 4x400m Relay Round 1, Women’s 100m Hurdles semi-final, Women’s Shot Put Final, Men’s Triple Jump Final

Boxing – Men’s 71kg, Women’s 50kg, Men’s 92kg, Women’s 66kg Finals

Golf – Women’s Round 3

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Team medal matches

Wrestling – Women’s 57 kg semi-final to medal matches, Men’s 57 kg semi-final to medal matches, Women’s 62 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final

10th August, Saturday

Athletics – Women’s 4x400m Relay Final, Men’s 4x400m Relay Final, Women’s 100m Hurdles Final, Women’s Javelin Throw Final, Men’s High Jump Final

Boxing – Women’s 57kg, Men’s 57kg, Women’s 75kg, Men’s +92kg Finals

Golf – Women’s Round 4

Table Tennis – Men’s & Women’s Team medal matches

Wrestling – Women’s 76 kg Round of 16 & quarter-final, Women’s 62 kg semi-final and medal matches

11th August, Sunday

Wrestling – Women’s 76 kg semi-final to medal matches

Archery: Women’s Individual Ranking Round (1 pm) and Men’s Individual Ranking Round

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were on Friday handed easy groups for the Paris Games beginning on July 26. Sindhu, who won the silver medal at the Rio Games and followed that with a bronze in Tokyo Olympics, has been seeded 10th. The World number 13 has been drawn in Group M of the women’s singles alongside Kristin Kuuba of Estonia (WR 75) and Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq. (WR 111). While Sindhu, who is vying for a third Olympic medal, has a relatively easy group, she could face China’s sixth seed He Bing Jiao in the round of 16.

If she gets past Jiao, Sindhu will likely face Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei of China in the quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old has not had the smoothest of runs in the lead up to the Olympics and it will take a special effort from her to a complete a hat-trick of medals at the Summer Games.

Meanwhile, Prannoy, who will be making his Olympic debut, has been seeded 13th and will have to go past Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat (WR 70) and Fabian Roth (WR 82) of Germany in Group K of the men’s singles event.

The second Indian in the men’s singles, Lakshya Sen, ranked 19, has been drawn in Group L.

The unseeded Lakshya has third seed and world number three Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in his group. They both are joined by Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon (WR 41) and Belgium’s Julien Carragi (WR 52).

Lakshya has an inferior 1-4 head-to-head record against Christie with the Indonesian getting the better of the 22-year-old twice this year already.

If both Prannoy and Lakshya can top their group, they will meet each other in the round of 16.

World number 19 pairing of Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa has been drawn in a difficult Group C in the women’s doubles event.

The Indians have been clubbed alongside world number 4 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist South Korea’s Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong (WR 7) and Australians Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu (WR 27).

The star Indian men’s pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty is probably India’s best bet for a medal. The duo has been seeded third in men’s doubles event.

However, the men’s doubles draw for the Paris Olympics was postponed due to a Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) hearing over the number of pairs in the draw.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is yet to confirm the date of the draw.

The badminton events at the Olympics will begin on July 27. 

File image of Prakash Padukone.© X (Twitter)

The highly anticipated Olympics 2024 are all set to kick-start from July 26 and will conclude on August 11. The Olympics will be hosted in Paris and a total of 206 countries will be participating from all over the world. The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature 45 different sports, including 41 that are considered mainstay Olympic sports. Four new sports like breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing have also been included in this edition’ roster. India will be sending close to 120 athletes to Paris for the upcoming Olympic games in French capital.

India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.

Ahead of the marquee event, here’s a list of all the Indian athletes who have secured a spot in Olympics 2024.

Archery:

Dhiraj Bommadevara: Men’s team

Tarundeep Rai: Men’s team

Pravin Jadhav: Men’s team

Bhajan Kaur: Women’s team

Deepika Kumari: Women’s team

Ankita Bhakat: Women’s team

Athletics:

Akshdeep Singh: Men’s 20km race walk

Vikash Singh: Men’s 20km race walk

Paramjeet Singh Bisht: Men’s 20km race walk

Priyanka Goswami: Women’s 20km race walk

Avinash Sable: Men’s 3000m steeplechase

Parul Chaudhary: Women’s 3000m steeplechase, women’s 5000m steeplechase

Jyothi Yarraji: Women’s 100m hurdles

Kiran Pahal: Women’s 400m

Tajinderpal Singh Toor: Men’s shot put

Abha Khatua: Women’s shot put

Neeraj Chopra: Men’s javelin throw

Kishore Jena: Men’s javelin throw

Annu Rani: Women’s javelin throw

Sarvesh Kushare: Men’s high jump

Praveen Chithravel: Men’s triple jump

Abdulla Aboobacker: Men’s triple jump

Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, and Rajesh Ramesh: Men’s 4x400m relay

Mijo Chaco Kurian: 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay

Vidhya Ramaraj, Jyothika Sri Dandi, MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesan, and Prachi: Women’s 4x400m relay

Prachi: 4x400m mixed relay

Priyanka Goswami/Suraj Panwar: Race walk mixed marathon

Badminton:

H.S Prannoy: Men’s singles

Lakshya Sen: Men’s singles

P.V Sindhu: Women’s singles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty: Men’s doubles

Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto: Women’s doubles

Boxing:

Nikhat Zareen: Women’s 50kg

Amit Phangal: Men’s 51kg

Nishant Dev: Men’s 71kg

Preeti Pawar: Women’s 54kg

Lovlina Borgohain: Women’s 75kg

Jaismine Lamboria: Women’s 57kg

Equestrian:

Anush Agarwalla: Dressage

Golf:

Subhankar Sharma: Men’s golf

Gaganjeet Bhullar: Men’s golf

Aditi Ashok: Women’s golf

Diksha Dagar: Women’s golf

Hockey:

P.R Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rogidas, Harmanpreet Singh(c), Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh: Men’s hockey team

Judo:

Tulika Mann: Women’s 78kg

Rowing:

Balraj Panwar: M1x

Sailing:

Vishnu Saravanan: Men’s one person dinghy

Nethra Kumanan: Women’s one person dinghy

Shooting:

Prithviraj Tondaiman: Men’s trap

Rajeshwari Kumari: Women’s trap

Shreyasi Singh: Women’s trap

Anantjeet Singh Naruka: Men’s skeet

Raiza Dhillon: Women’s skeet

Maheshwari Chauhan: Women’s skeet

Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan: Skeet mixed team

Sandeep Singh: Men’s 10m air rifle

Arjun Babuta: Men’s 10m air rifle

Elavenil Valarivan: Women’s 10m air rifle

Ramita Jindal: Women’s 10m air rifle

Swapnil Kusale: Men’s 50m rifle 3 position

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar: Men’s 50m rifle 3 position

Sift Kaur Samra: Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions

Anjum Moudgil: Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions

Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan: 10m air rifle mixed team

Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal: 10m air rifle mixed team

Arjun Cheema: Men’s 10m air pistol

Sarabjot Singh: Men’s 10m air pistol

Manu Bhaker: Women’s 10m air pistol

Rhythm Sangwam: Women’s 10m air pistol

Vijayveer Sidhu: Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

Anish Bhanwala: Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

Manu Bhaker: Women’s 25m pistol

Esha Singh: Women’s 25m pistol

Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker: 10m air pistol mixed team

Arjun Cheema/Rhythm Sangwam: 10m air pistol mixed team

Swimming:

Dhinidhi Desinghu: Women’s 200m freestyle

Srihari Nataraj: Men’s 100m backstroke

Table Tennis:

Sharath Kamal: Men’s singles and men’s team

Harmeet Desai: Men’s singles and men’s team

Manav Thakkar: Men’s team

Manika Batra: Women’s singles and women’s team

Sreeja Akula: Women’s singles and women’s team

Archana Kamath: Women’s team

Tennis:

Sumit Nagal: Men’s singles

Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji: Men’s doubles

Weightlifting:

Mirabai Chanu: Women’s 49kg

Wrestling:

Aman Sehrawat: Men’s freestyle 57kg

Vinesh Phogat: Women’s 50kg

Anshu Malik: Women’s 57kg

Nisha Dahiya: Women’s 68kg

Reetika Hooda: Women’s 76kg

Antim Phangal: Women’s 53kg

London Olympics bronze medallist shooter Gagan Narang on Monday replaced Mary Kom as India’s Chef-de-Mission for the Paris Olympics where ace shuttler PV Sindhu will be the female flag bearer during the opening ceremony. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha said the 41-year-old Narang’s elevation from deputy CDM’s position was an automatic choice in the wake of Mary Kom’s resignation. “I was looking for an Olympic medallist to lead our contingent and my young colleague is an apt replacement for Mary Kom,” PT Usha said in a press release.

PTI had earlier reported that Narang was in race to become the CDM of the Indian contingent.

Six-time world champion Mary Kom had resigned from the position in April, saying she was left with no choice but to step down owing to compelling personal reasons. She was named CDM by the IOA in March this year.

Chef-de-Mission is an important administrative post as he is responsible for ensuring the welfare of the participating athletes, taking care of their needs and liaising with the organising committee.

IOA also announced that Sindhu, India’s only woman athlete to win back-to-back Olympic medals, will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony on July 26, alongside ace table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal.

“I am also delighted to announce that India’s only woman to win two Olympic medals, PV Sindhu, as the female flag-bearer alongside table tennis ace A Sharath Kamal in the opening ceremony,” Usha said.

IOA had named Kamal as flag bearer in March but delayed the decision on picking the female athlete.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), in 2020, had changed its protocol to allow one female and and one male athlete of each NOC to bear the flag jointly during the opening ceremony of the Summer Games.

Mary Kom and former hockey skipper Manpreet Singh were India’s flag bearers at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I am confident that our athletes are well prepared to deliver the best results for India in Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Usha added.

More than 100 athletes have qualified for the Paris Games, starting July 26.

Interestingly, Narang — the London Olympics bronze medallist in men’s 10m air rifle event — was tasked with overseeing India’s operations at the shooting range, which is very far from the main venues.

India will field its largest-ever shooting contingent with as many as 21 qualifying for the Games.

Now that Narang has been selected for CDM’s role, the IOA will have to find his replacement at the shooting range. 

There is nobody more qualified in Indian badminton than Leroy D’Sa to talk about doubles in badminton. The only Indian shuttler to win four medals at the Asian Games, D’Sa is one of the finest doubles players the country has ever produced, and his success came at a time when doubles was the ignored art. D’Sa had to regularly set up scratch partnerships with top male and female singles players like Prakash Padukone, Ami Ghia, and Kanwal Thakur Singh to win medals in Asian Games doubles and mixed doubles.

So when Leroy D’Sa picks a pair as a favourite to win a medal at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, one has to sit down and take note of it.

D’Sa picked India’s former World No.1 men’s doubles pair Satwaksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as India’s best bet to win a medal in the upcoming Olympic Games, placing the pair ahead of two-time Olympics medallist P.V Sindhu.

“Players have been playing right throughout the year and there are too much of expectations. But I personally feel the most important point was to qualify for the Olympics. From all the players who have qualified I believe we have a very good chance of coming back with a bigger haul than ever,” said D’Sa during a panel discussion on India’s chances at the Paris Olympics organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai (SJAM) on the occasion of World Sports Journalists Day on Tuesday.

Hockey Olympian and Olympic Gold Quest CEO Viren Rasqinha, Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwalla, chief coach of Indian rifle shooting team Suma Shirur and former India Davis Cupper Purav Raja were the other participants in the panle discussion.

D’Sa said that this time the badminton contingent at Paris will be the largest-ever from India at the Olympics as so many players have qualified for the Games.

“Two boys in the singles category (Lakshya Sen, H.S Prannoy), Sidhu in the women’s singles, Chirag-Satwik in men’s doubles. In my opinion, Chirag/Satwik are the best prospects to come back with a medal. I would place Sindhu next because she is the one who has tasted blood and knows what it takes to win at the highest level. She is once again in good form and I am very sure with the guidance that she is receiving from Prakash Padukone, winning a medal I don’t think will be difficult,” said D’Sa.

Three medals if not four: D’Sa

D’Sa, who won three bronze medals in the 1982 Asian Games in men’s doubles, mixed doubles, and men’s team and a fourth bronze in the 1986 Games in Seoul in men’s team event, picked both Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy as dark horses.

“Lakshya Sen and H.S Prannoy both, to me, are the dark horses in the singles. Lakshya Sen once again has been playing extremely well. Unfortunately, HS Prannoy has been having some medical issues. He has not played very well. But I think now that is all over. If these players are able to be injury-free I am very sure that this time we will come back with at least three medals if not four,” said D’Sa.

D’Sa also has high hopes from the young women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who he said have gained enough experience and caused many upsets on the BWF circuit.