By Harpal Singh Bedi
Medal contender PV Sindhu feels that she has received a good draw at the Tokyo Games but opined that this is the Olympics and it is not going to be easy,.
“It’s a good draw in the group stage. The Hong Kong girl plays well and it’ll be a good match. Everybody is going to be in top form, I hope I do well. Every match is important so I will take it match by match. This is the Olympics and it is not going to be easy, each point is very important,” Sindhu said.
The 2019 world champion Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth will open their campaign at the Olympic Games against the relatively lowly-ranked opponents in their respective women and men’s singles group stages as the draws were announced on Thursday.
Rio Games silver medalist and World No. 7 Sindhu has been placed in Group J alongside World No. 34 Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi and World No. 58 Ksenia Polikarpova of Israel in the women’s singles. Sindhu has an all-win record against her group stage opponents Ngan Yi and Polikarpova in the five and two encounters played so far against them respectively.
World Championships bronze medallist Praneeth said “It’s a mixed draw, not so tough and not so good. I have to be 100 percent to win all matches and it will be a good match for me,”
Sindhu and Praneeth may face Japanese shuttlers world championship bronze medallist Akane Yamaguchi and World No. 1 and two-time world champion Kento Momota respectively in the quarter-finals stage.
In the singles category, 42 players are divided into 14 groups with each group consisting of three players and the top player from each group will qualify for the knockout stage.
However Indian pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy face a stiff challenge in the men’s doubles group stage as they are placed in the Group A alongside top-seed and World No. 1 Indonesian duo of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon,
World No. 3 Chinese Taipei pair of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin. England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy are the fourth pair placed in Group A.
In the doubles category, 16 pairs are divided into four groups and the top two pairs from each group will advance into the last-8 stage
India’s doubles coach Mathias Boe is hopeful of getting good results. Talking about the draw, Boe said: “It’s a very even group which means even if you lose a match, you are still in the game because nobody knows what will happen. We’ll focus on preparing as much as possible in the last few weeks. We will attack on court and hopefully, we get good results. I am positive, it’s a good challenge for us.”
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“The roadmap is drawn, and this will give our players time to work specifically on the opponents and get prepared before they leave for Tokyo. I wish the entire contingent all the best,” BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said.
Badminton matches kickstart from July 24.