The badminton qualification cycle for the 2024 Paris Olympics will start on May 1, 2023, and continue until April 28, 2024. During twelve-month period, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) will run a separate ranking system under the name ‘Race to Paris - BWF Olympic Qualification’.
The Sudirman Cup (May 14-21), being the first event in the qualification cycle, will mark the beginning of the ranking system.
A total of 172 quota places, with an equal split between men and women, will be up for grabs across five events: men’s and women’s singles and men’s, women’s and mixed doubles.
Each national Olympic committee (NOC) is eligible to field a maximum of eight players across the five events, given that the players and pairings are in the top 16 and top 8 of the Race of Paris rankings when the qualification process ends. A NOC can also field two pairs each in the doubles events if the pairs are ranked in the top eight at the end of the qualification period. But the total team composition should not exceed the eight quota places.
The host nation, France, will reserve a spot each in men’s and women’s singles.
In the Tokyo Olympics, India could send only four players - P.V. Sindhu and B. Sai Praneeth in women’s and men’s singles and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in men’s doubles, as no other players and pairs, could make a top 16 and top 8 finish in the Race to Tokyo rankings.
P.V. Sindhu showing her Tokyo Olympics bronze medal. (File Photo) | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL
Singles
In the men’s and women’s singles events, a NOC can field a total of two quota places each if its shuttlers are ranked in the top 16 of the Race to Paris rankings on the qualification date.
Total of 38 players - two reserved for France, the host nation - will compete in the two singles events. The remaining 36 places will be allotted among the NOCs based on the rankings of their players. Each NOC will be eligible to field two players in men’s and women’s singles events as per the International Olympic Committee’s universality system, confirmed by the Tripartite Commission at the end of the qualification period.
Each singles discipline must also have at least two athletes from each of the five Continental Confederations, provided the player is ranked within the top 250.
The main event, followed by the preliminary round, of the men’s and women’s singles will consist of 16 players each.
Doubles
Like in the two singles events, each NOC can field a maximum of two quota places if the pairs are ranked in the top eight at the end of the qualification cycle.
There should also be at least one pair from each of the five Continental Federations, provided they are ranked in the top 50 of the Race to Paris rankings as of April 28, 2024.
However, in all events, no NOC can field more than two players in singles events even if more than two players are ranked in the top 16 of the Race to Paris rankings. Similarly, a NOC is not eligible to field more than two pairs in the two doubles events even if multiple pairs are ranked in the top eight at the end of the qualification period.
The main event, followed by a preliminary round, will consist of eight pairs each.
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