Men's Singles
Three different nations have won gold medals at the Olympics whilst only five have been on the podium. The odds would suggest that could change this time. Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) is the defending Olympic champion. Also a double world champion, he has been the dominant performer over the last few years. Compatriot Anders Antonsen(Denmark) is still a danger. He was an Olympic quarter finalist in Tokyo and has reached the semi final of the last two World Championships after winning silver in 2019. Shi Yuqi (China) also lost out in the Tokyo quarter finals but is the top ranked Chinese player currently. Li Shifeng (China) has arguably been stronger on the tour, beating him in the All England Open final in 2023. Indonesia have been the other gold medal winning nation. Loh Kean Yew (Singapore) was the 2021 world champion. He was only second at the 2023 Asian Championship where he was defeated by Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia). He missed the 2023 World Championship due to the tragic passing of his Mum. He won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and in 2023 won the Singapore Open. The current world champion is Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) after coming second in 2022. He also won the India Open in 2023. Another contender to win the first male singles badminton medal for their country is Kodai Naraoka (Japan). He won silver at the 2023 World Championship and performed very well on tour, often competing in the business end of tournaments. Chou Tien-chen (Taiwan) quite often finds himself eliminated at the quarter final stage, including at the Tokyo Olympics. However, he did win a bronze medal at the 2022 World Championship. Lakshya Sen (India) won bronze in 2021 and also was the gold medalist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Compatriot H.S. Prannoy (India) was a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championship after losing in the quarter finals at the two tournaments prior. Lee Zil Jia (Malaysia) was a quarter finalist in 2019 and 2021. He also won the England Open in 2021 and made the semi final at the following two editions. Jonatan Christie (Indonesia) and Kenta Nishimoto (Japan) are not their country’s number one but both have made World Championship quarter finals and have themselves to be capable. Lee Cheuk Yiu (Hong Kong) is the number one for his country and was second in the India Open in 2024. Of the non-Danish Europeans, maybe Toma Junior Popov (France) is the likeliest contender. He was runner up at the 2024 European Championship and will be supported by a loud home crowd. Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) also deserves a mention giving his fourth place finish in Tokyo.
As always in these big competitions, the draw is key. There are so many players worth mentioning that could win games if they are performing near their best. I want someone to have big match experience and 2024 form. Christie, Vitidsarn and Yuqi have the standout form in France which I give some credence to. The quarter finalists have seen more surprises over the last few Olympics. The draw sees individuals separated in small groups with the winner progressing. The groups generally have a clear standout but three could see shocks. H, I and toughest of all is L. Sen would have been a dark horse pick of mine but Christie looks very strong. Even Cordon proved in Tokyo he can compete on this stage. Antonsen v Ginting would be the standout quarter final but either probably loses to Yuqi. I think Yuqi goes on to win gold. On the other side, I think Christie makes his way to the quarter final but his tough route costs him as Naraoka gets the win. He’ll come up against Shifeng in the semi final. Shifeng has a stronger record including winning three straight.
🥇Shi Yuqi 🇨🇳
🥈Yu Shifeng 🇨🇳
🥉Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 🇮🇩
Men's Doubles
It’s four nations who have won gold here, with three other medalists. Indonesia have the most gold medals and they have four teams in the top sixteen. The only one qualified is Alfian/Ardianto (Indonesia) who are ranked number one. They have two World Championship bronze medals, from 2019 and 2022. They also won the Malaysia Open in 2023. The 2023 world champions were Kang/Seo (South Korea). In the final they defeated Astrup/Rasmussen (Denmark). The Danes made the quarter final in Tokyo and won at the 2023 European Games. Chia/Soh (Malaysia) were the 2022 world champions and won bronze in 2023. They were Olympic bronze medalists in Tokyo and were runners up in the India, Indonesia and Singapore Opens in 2023. Hoki/Kobayashi (Japan) won the 2021 World Championship after winning silver in 2019. They’ve also won the 2021 Denmark Open and 2023 Singapore Open. The top Chinese pair is Chang/Weikeng (China). They won the 2023 India Open and were bronze medalist in the 2023 World Championship. They were runners up in the Malaysia and Singapore opens in 2023. The other Chinese pair are Xuanyi/Yuchen (China). They had a stronger year in 2022 when they won the Indonesia Open and the World Tour Finals. Rankireddy/Shetty (India) were bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championship before losing in the 2023 quarter finals. They are the 2023 Asian Champions, also winning the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Indonesia Open. In the Commonwealth Games final they beat Lane/Vendy (Great Britain). They also lost in the final of the 2023 European Games to the Danes and made the quarter final in the 2022 World Championship. Seidel/Lamsfuss (Germany) made the 2021 World Championship quarter finals. As did Lee/Wang (Taiwan), but they were stronger prior to that. They won the World Tour Finals in 2022 and made the semi finals either side of that. Jomkoh/Kedren (Thailand) have made the quarter finals of the England Open and India Open in 2024. Dong/Yakura (Canada) won the Pan-American Games in 2023. Popov/Popov (France) do not have much form on the circuit but are brothers playing at home and are both good players.
It does feel like their is a set of eight teams who should be favoured but there is always shocks so whatever the rankings and form say, that is highly unlikely to be the final eight. The toughest group looks being D, not only due to the fifth participant. The knockout draw is not pre-ordained which makes working out paths difficult. I do think it is time for Rankireddy/Shetty to prove themselves as the best team in the world and they do have strong form in France. Behind them I think Astrup/Rasmussen are arguably the most consistently solid team and will take silver. The battle for bronze comes down to Chia/Soh, Kang/Seo and the pair of Chang/Weikang. Ultimately I have to go with the Chinese pair to get bronze.
🥇Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty 🇮🇳
🥈Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 🇩🇰
🥉Wang Chang/Liang Weikang 🇨🇳
Women’s Singles
Four countries have won gold in this event but it has been dominated by China who have taken five golds. Chen Yufei (China) is the reigning Olympic champion and has been a fixture in the business end of big tournaments over the last few years. She has won bronze medals in the 2017, 2019 and 2023 World Championships, whilst it was silver in 2022. In 2023, she won the Indonesia Open and lost in the final of the England Open. The second quota spot as always will be fiercely competed over. He Bingjao (China) was the unlucky fourth place finisher in Tokyo. She won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2021 World Championship. The other Olympic gold medalist that will be competing is Carolina Marin (Spain). She won gold in 2016 and was world champion in 2018. It was only silver in 2023 though but she did win the European Games. The current world champion is An Se-young (South Korea) improving from her 2022 bronze. She had a banner year in 2023 winning the India, Singapore, England and Japan opens. She was beaten in the Asian Championship by Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan). She was the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, adding to her World Championship silver in 2021 and bronze in 2022. She has reached the quarter finals in 2018, 2019 and 2023. Another Olympic medalist from Tokyo was P.V. Sindhu (India) who won bronze. She was the 2019 world champion, which she sandwiched with silver medals. Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) is a double world champion, prevailing in 2021 and 2022. She won bronze in 2018 and 2023. She was also the winner at the 2022 World Tour Final. Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) has a World Championship bronze that she won in 2019 but she has mainly fallen at the quarter final stages. She made that at the Tokyo Olympics as well as the 2017 and 2021 World Championships. She was a world champion in 2013 when she was the youngest person to take gold. Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Indonesia) has also been a bit of a quarter finalist specialist, losing in the 2023 World Championships, 2024 England Open and 2024 Malaysia Open at that stage. Aya Ohori (Japan) reached the semi finals of the 2023 France Open and Asian Games. Beiwen Zhang (United States) was the 2023 Pan-American Games winner. The best players in Europe after Marin are Mia Blichfeldt (Denmark) and Kirsty Gilmour (Great Britain), both of whom have lost to Marin in finals of continental championships. Other contenders include Kim Ga-eun (South Korea), Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vietnam), Supabida Katethong (Thailand) and Yeo Jia Min (Singapore).
The strength in depth is not the same level as in the men’s draw. Se-young has been the best player in the world over the last 18 months and it feels hard to see anyone but her taking the gold medal here. Given I’ve predicted her to win gold, I have to knock out Yamaguchi who I think could have won a medal otherwise. The draw has left a weak quarter, the third which means there will be a surprise semi finalist. The bottom quarter not only has some of the tougher groups to predict but will also see some of the favoured competitors take eachother on to make the semi final. The section includes Bingjao, Marin, Sindhu and Yufei if the groups go to form. I think Marin can win through, taking out Yufei on the way. She looks some way back to her best and but the head to head tells you how close this will be. The bronze medal should come down to Tzu-ying and Ohori and I’ll edge to Tzu-ying despite a tough group if Intanon is anywhere near her best.
🥇An Se Young 🇰🇷
🥈Carolina Marin 🇪🇸
🥉Tai Tzu-Ying 🇹🇼
Women’s Doubles
Another event China has dominated with five of the eight golds. They enter with the strong favourites in Yifan/Qingchen (China). They are four-time world champions, winning in 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Despite their dominance, they could only win silver at the Tokyo Olympics. In 2023 they won the Malaysia and Singapore opens. Compatriots Ning/Shengshu (China) won in Malaysia in 2024 after taking the France Open in 2023. The current champions are not going to compete due to the retirement of Greysia Polii. Now it’s the team of Ramadhanti/Rahayu (Indonesia). They lost in the final of the 2023 World Championship. The bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics were Kim/Kong (South Korea). They also won bronze at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships, winning silver in 2022. Compatriots Baek/Lee (South Korea) took the win at the 2023 Indonesia Open and were runners-up at the 2023 Asian Championship. Matsumoto/Nagahara (Japan) are double world champions, the latest win coming in 2019. Since then they have won two bronze medals as well as the 2021 England Open. Compatriots Matsuyama/Shida (Japan) have had lots of strong performances over the last few years including two big titles in 2023 and winning medals in the World Tour Finals in two of the last three years. They have only managed to make the quarter-finals in the last three World Champions though. Prajongjai/Kititharakul (Thailand) are four-time World Championship quarter-finalists, including the last three. Tan/Muralitharan (Malaysia) made the 2023 quarter-finals after winning the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lambert/Tran (France) were the 2024 European Champions whilst Xu/Xu (United States) were runners-up in the 2023 Pan American Games. Yeung/Yeung (Hong Kong) reached the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open in 2023 and the India Open in 2024.
It feels like there are maybe eight pairs that have the capability of medalling but the top teams look like being tough to beat. The final should be one of the anticipated matchups of the Olympics as Yifan/Qingchen take on Baek/Lee. The Chinese pair have a good record against them as well as major championship experience and form in France. You cannot pick many holes in their resumes. Behind them, I think it could come down to Ramadhanti/Rahayu against Matsuyama/Shida although Ning/Shengshu do have strong from this year. I will edge to the Japanese pair but could see any of those teams winning the medal.
🥇Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan 🇨🇳
🥈Baek Ha-na/Lee So-hee 🇰🇷
🥉Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida 🇯🇵
Mixed Doubles
Again, only three countries have won gold. China has four, South Korea two and Indonesia one. The reigning champions will not be competing. Instead, Dongping/Yanzhe (China) will team up. Over the last six years perhaps the stronger Chinese pair has been Yaqiong/Siwei (China). They are triple world champions, winning in 2018, 2019 and 2022. They finished second in the 2023 World Championship as well as the Tokyo Olympics. Seo/Chae (South Korea) are the reigning world champions and will be looking to improve on their quarter-final from the Tokyo Olympics. Compatriots Kim/Jeong (South Korea) are a relatively inexperienced pair but reached the quarter-final of the 2023 World Championship. Indonesia are not as strong and it would be a surprise if they had a pair medal. The nation likeliest to take their first gold is probably Japan. Watanabe/Higashino (Japan) were Olympic bronze medalists in Tokyo. They also won silver at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships, but it was only bronze in 2023. They won the England Open in 2021 and 2022 before taking the Japan and India Opens in 2023. In the Japan Open, they beat Puavaranukroh/Taerattanchai (Thailand) in the final. The Thai pair won the 2021 World Championship after finishing second in 2019. They also won the World Tour Finals in 2020 and 2021, losing in the 2022 final. Tang/Tse (Hong Kong) are twice World Championship bronze medalists, in 2018 and 2021, as well as being fourth place finishers in Tokyo. The European challenge might have the most strength in depth in this event. Tabeling/Piek (Netherlands) won the 2023 European Games. In the final, they beat Gicquel/Delrue (France). Christiansen/Boje(Denmark) lost in the semi-final but did win the Singapore Open 2023. Chen/Toh (Malaysia) and Ye/Lee (Taiwan) are consistently in the last eight but don’t tend to push for medals.
The Chinese pairs are very strong here. Out of the two Yaqiong/Siwei do look stronger but Yanhze/Dongping do have good form in France. I would also expect the top pairs from Japan, South Korea and Thailand to compete to medal. The Thai pair have a poor head-to-head record against the other contenders over the last couple of years which rules them out for me. It is the Chinese pair who have a winning record against the others and Japan get the nod for bronze.
🥇Huang Yaqiong/Zheng Siwei 🇨🇳
🥈Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping 🇨🇳
🥉Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino 🇯🇵
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