Paris Olympics, badminton: Lakshya Sen can thrive despite difficult draw, PV Sindhu’s path to podium is via China

It was never going to be a cruise, but Lakshya Sen’s path to an Olympic medal, looks full of barnacles – those sea creature colonies that cling to a ship and drag down its speed. There are only high hurdles at each step before Sen could get onto the Paris podium – and that might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Indian who revels in treacherous challenges on the biggest stages.

He is slotted in one of the two groups out of 13 that has 4 shuttlers. The other 11 pools have 3 players, where there will be one fewer match each. Sen has to get past Indonesian nemesis Jonatan Christie from that loaded Group L, which also has Tokyo surprise semifinalist Kevin Cordon, who came from Guatemala and disrupted the last Olympics.

There’s potentially a tense match against compatriot HS Prannoy in Round of 16 if Sen takes out Christie early. And if he can upend his trend of defeats to fellow Indians, the Japanese rally-roiler Kodai Naraoka awaits in quarters, testing his endurance. Naraoka returns endlessly and painfully, and will test Sen’s patience.

Yet, these 5 matches even before he gets into medal contention – like the barnacles – seem annoying drags, but not unwinnable. Sen heads into his first Olympics as a Thomas Cup and CWG champ, who reached All England finals and beat a Chinese in the team event of Asiad playing in China. His big-stage temperament invokes a bit of fear in opponents.

Before the Paris draw, regular rival Anders Antonsen had told Danish media Sport TV 2 about how Sen can be a nasty proposition as an unseeded player and why no top player wanted the dangerous floater capable of beating anyone, in their group. Antonsen evaded the challenge, which fell upon Christie, who will be scratching his head about being third seed, and still having to play Cordon and Sen, besides the whimmy Julian Carraggi, while 4th seed Antonsen gets a strolling bye into quarters, once he gets out of his group.

For Sen, an underdog who revels in that tag, the Olympics could be the best stage to reverse a 1-4 scoreline against Christie, by preying on the Indonesian’s wretched draw luck.

Sindhu’s Chinese tests

Quite the opposite of tough is PV Sindhu’s draw. She was grouped with World No 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia and No 111 Fatimah Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives, before she enters knockouts chasing her third Olympic medal. And the draw then served up two Chinese – Sindhu has never lost to a Chinese at a World Championships or the Olympics and will hope this isn’t the first occurrence after 9 wins.

There will be some slight wariness of He Bingjiao in Round of 16, whom she beat at Tokyo to win bronze, for the Chinese is mentally sturdier now in neutralizing Sindhu’s bullying attack. An enticing India vs China clash No 2 could be against defending champion Chen Yufei in the quarters.

Sindhu’s powers and form are mightily diminished right now, but she dragged Yufei into a 90-minute 3-setter at the French Open in March, and almost tippled her over. They are 6-6 apiece and the Indian can summon everything she has into an almighty kitchen sink-hurl to take the fight to the Chinese, knowing it’s her last Games, to flip that result.

The draw was fortuitous in that she avoided An Se-young, Tai Tzu Ying and Carolina Marin till the quarterfinals, against whom she carries a debilitating mental block. But Yufei can be put under the pump, and the southpaw Bingjiao might well be the tougher challenge.

Caution for Prannoy

HS Prannoy is still recovering from chikangunya, according to media reports. And the 13th seed was handed a draw that doesn’t ease headaches. Unlike Sen, his group stage isn’t a minefield, though Vietnamese Le Duc Phat shouldn’t be underestimated, nor should German Fabian Roth.

Things could get very tricky against Lakshya Sen in pre quarters, or Christie, who will both demand more than his 100 percent to get quelled. Japanese Naraoka can be a drain on energies, and his bout of illness suddenly looks most unfortunate as far as timing goes. But Prannoy has never had it easy with draws, so this isn’t particularly different.

Can Ash-Tan pull off a funny one?

Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto aren’t seen as medal contenders, but that very thing might fuel their determination. Placed in an expectedly tough draw, they have however avoided the near-invincible Chinese.

Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, World No 4s and Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong, No 7 are formidable on paper and in practice. Strangely, the Indians have only played the Japanese once, and the Koreans never, so can carry a hint of surprise into the match. Australians Angela Yu and Setyana Mapasa too will need to be defeated, alongside an upset, if they have to advance.

India’s best bet

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty remain India’s best medal hopes in badminton, but we’re made to wait to even know their pathway to the podium. A sports court ruling brought in a 17th pairing, a French combine, into the men’s doubles mix on the eve of the draw. So BWF were forced to postpone the MD draw, which meant the third-seeded Indians need to anxiously wait to know who they battle in the 4-pairing group.

India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, right, and Chirag Shetty. (FILE)

Satwik-Chirag had incidentally beaten eventual Olympic champs Lee-Yang of Chinese Taipei in the group stage at Tokyo, but failed to advance to the quarterfinals, after losing to the Minions and being stuck in their group after a nasty spot of math calculations.

The BWF was yet to confirm a delayed draw date, immediately putting MD pairings on their toes for how unpredictable the whole business of preparing and winning medals can get.

For the rest of Indians who know their draws, and have avoided top names first-up, the specific simulations can begin.

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