Indian badminton star Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had a fanboy moment in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics as he met legendary Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal at the Olympics Village. On Monday, Satwiksairaj shared a picture with Nadal on his Instagram story, with him being ecstatic about posing “with the best”. The Indian contingent will kickstart its Paris Olympics journey from July 25 onwards, with 112 athletes set to feature in 69 medal events across 16 sports. The Olympics will conclude on August 11. 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.

Satwiksairaj, along with his men’s doubles partner Chirag Shetty, are perhaps the strongest contenders for a medal.

This year, the popular men’s doubles pair, also known as ‘Sat-Chi’, have won two Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour titles, the French Open title in March 2024 and the Thailand Open 2024 in May 2024. They also finished as runners-up in the Malaysian Open and India Open.

They were also a part of the Indian team that played in the Thomas Cup 2024 as the defending champions. However, they could not defend the title as they lost to the eventual champions China by 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

With a peak of number one ranking in men’s doubles competition, several BWF Tour titles, the World Championships men’s doubles bronze medal in 2022, gold in men’s doubles competition at Commonwealth Games 2022 and Asian Games Hangzhou the following year and silver medals in mixed team events at these two events, Satwiksairaj-Chirag have a huge cabinet of medals and accomplishments supporting the claim of them being a leading medal contender.

On the other hand, coming to tennis, Nadal lost to seventh-seeded Portugal tennis player Nuno Borges in the final of the Nordea Open on Sunday by 6-3, 6-2. This was his first final in around two years.

In what is deemed to be a dream duo, 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal and the recently-crowned Wimbledon champion, Carlos Alcaraz will participate in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics as men’s doubles partners.

Alcaraz and Nadal will be one of the most powerful teams in the men’s doubles category, having won 15 French Open titles between them. The tennis sport at the next Olympic Games will take place on the clay court in Paris.

Rafael Nadal has been vociferous about representing Spain in the Paris Olympics, which is believed to be his final year on the ATP tour as a professional. Nadal underlined his promise to compete in the Olympics after losing in the first round of the French Open in May.

File image of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.© AFP

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

Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have been seeded third.© BAI

File image of Prakash Padukone.© X (Twitter)

Chirag Shetty has lashed out at the government for not treating all sports equally.© AFP

Star Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has “cracked” the service variation challenge and is focussing on “comprehensive physical and mental conditioning” to ensure peak performance at the upcoming Paris Olympics. Satwik, 23, and Chirag, 26, have been troubled by the wide variations of tumble, spin and wide serves that their opponents, mainly the Koreans and Indonesians, have employed against them during the recent tournaments. Chirag said they have addressed the “new challenge” and remains confident of negotiating it during the Paris Games.

“Regarding serve variations, they are a new challenge, but placing complete importance on that wouldn’t be right,” Chirag told PTI in an email interview.

“There was a time when we struggled with receiving them, but we eventually cracked it. We know what to do, we’ve been practicing, and we’re confident we’ll come out strong at the Olympics to counter that.” The current world number 3 pair had narrowly missed out of a quarterfinal berth in the last Olympics when despite winning two of their three group matches, the duo couldn’t qualify for the knockout stage as it was settled on the basis of the number of games won and lost.

“The experience of playing in the Tokyo Olympics has been invaluable in our preparation for the Paris Games. Competing at such a high level has taught us crucial lessons about handling pressure, staying focused, and adapting to different playing conditions,” Satwik said.

Chirag added: “The intensity and atmosphere of the Olympics are unparalleled, and having been through it once, we now have a better understanding of what to expect and the initial jitters of being at the Olympics for the first time are also not going to be there.

“Additionally, winning the French Open has naturally given us a significant confidence boost.” In the last couple of years, the duo worked its way to become the world number one after a series of sensational performance, including winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal, a bronze at the World Championships in 2022, and gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

They also played a crucial role in India’s epic Thomas Cup win in 2022. Satwik and Chirag have won the French Open and Thailand Open this year after reaching the finals at the Malaysian Super 750 and India Super 750.

“As the Olympics draw closer, our approach is becoming more focussed and strategic. We’re fine-tuning every aspect of our game to ensure peak performance when we step onto the court in Paris,” Satwik said.

“This includes developing specific game plans for our potential opponents by studying their strengths and weaknesses in detail, concentrating on targeted drills, and enhancing our on-court positions and shot selections.

“We are taking a holistic approach to our preparations. We’re in a good rhythm and are eagerly looking forward to be back at the Olympics. Comprehensive physical and mental conditioning is at the heart of our preparation.” The duo has been troubled sometimes by the left-right combinations such as Korean Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk and Danish Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen but Chirag feels they don’t have any problem against any particular pair.

“I can’t really pinpoint a specific pair that we find particularly tricky to play against. On any given day, if a pair plays well, they can pose a challenge. However, I believe that if we play at our best, we can beat anyone,” he said.

“So, there’s no specific pair or lefty-righty combination that particularly affects us. That said, all our competitors in the Olympics will be quite good…” On expectations and handling pressure at the big-ticket event, Satwik said: “We understand Olympics is the greatest, biggest tournament there is and naturally there are hopes and wishes from each Olympic-bound athlete.

“We don’t want to think so much about the pressures, we’re looking to go out there, enjoy the atmosphere, have a great time on court and take it one game at a time and see how it goes. We do not want to put ourselves under any pressure from the word go.

“We’re used to the expectations and pressures that come along in our game… we’re primarily looking to go out there and do great things on the court and have fun while doing that.” Chirag and Satwik are also mentors of PNB MetLife Junior Badminton Championship (JBC), which will begin on August 1 in the national capital.

“JBC offers a fantastic opportunity to nurture budding badminton talent in India. JBC also offers players access to mentoring, coaching, and training from veterans in the sport. Badminton has significantly shaped my life, and I want to share its benefits with the next generation, helping them achieve their dreams,” Chirag said.

Satwik said: “As JBC mentors, we offer guidance on videos to young athletes on drills, techniques, strategies to improve their game, tips on mental resilience, and managing competition stress. Chirag and I will also be offering tips to players in person, whenever we visit any city edition matches.”

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.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the bronze medallists from the 2022 World Championship in Tokyo and the 2022 Asian Games gold medallists, are the first Indian men’s doubles pair to be ranked world No.1 in badminton and will represent India at Paris 2024.

The duo met with Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema’s ‘Get Set Gold’, where they unpacked secrets to their game, talked about the initial language barrier they faced in their partnership, and their common love for South Indian music.

Satwiksairaj, who holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest hit, clocking a speed of 565 km/hr, gave an insight into the technique behind the smash and what inspired him.

“I learned the smash from volleyball, how players jump and smash. It looks like a heroic movement and that is how I started learning my jump when I was young. Nobody taught me this and I think the smash has achieved success somehow. I try taking a peripheral view to subconsciously sense where the opponents are standing. Earlier, I used to play a lot with angles and hit the line, but now I try hitting towards the opponent’s body.”

While Shetty and Rankireddy took Karthik through their workout regime, they also discussed the physicality of their opponents and how it surprised them on most occasions. Shetty described the nuances of playing a doubles match, and what are the various aspects other than power that define their game. He then took Karthik through the drills they do to perfect their defence and develop muscle memory.

“When we talk about doubles, the game is not just about power. The game is a lot more about the defence, the net game, on how to get the lift right. Defence is another important part of the game. There are a lot of aspects when you think about doubles, and it is not just about power.”

Shetty also shared how Rankireddy influenced his music playlist with songs from Rajnikanth’s, Kamal Haasan’s, and Shah Rukh Khan’s movies, over a game of carrom.

“Earlier, I used to listen to a lot of Punjabi music. But just before the Asian Games, Satwik made me listen to songs from Anirudh (Ravichander),” said Shetty. Rankireddy explained their playlist sequence, “To begin with there’s ‘Hukum’, then Vikram’s title track, and slowly we go into dance mode with ‘Chaleya’. Chirag set the KGF background score as our entrance theme into the court.”

Shetty and Rankireddy then discussed the tough days in their partnership and how they overcame them to become the world’s no.1 ranked pair.

“Earlier, I used to feel burdened, it felt like someone was purposely making me play with him and it was against our will. We did not speak the same language, which created many barriers. I used to speak in Hindi, while Satwik was more familiar with Telugu. The then coach, Kim Tan, said that he felt that we would make a good pair as we had a good attack. He felt we could make it to the Top 20. This conversation made us feel less burdened and we felt like partnering with each other willingly, Shetty said.

Rankireddy then shared how their partnership has become perfect and how it feels like their souls talk to each other in between the matches.

Shetty and Rankireddy are currently the third-ranked pair in the men’s doubles and are serious contenders for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In the last two years, the duo won a Gold Medal each in the 2022 Asian Games and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, along with more accolades at the 2022 World Championships, 2022 Thomas Cup, and 2023 Asian Championship.

File image of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.© AFP