Ningbo (China): India's shuttler pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto has qualified for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics despite losing to Japanese pair of N. Matsuyama and C. Shida in the Round of 16 of the ongoing Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Wednesday.
The duo qualified for the Olympics after the first-round exit of another Indian pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand from the ongoing Badminton Asia Championships.
With Treesa-Gayatri out of the fray, the duo Ashwini-Tanisha secured a berth for the world's biggest sporting event as the cut-off date for the qualifications is April 28 and there is no other tournament scheduled after the prestigious Badminton Asia Championships. Ashwini-Tanisha pair is ranked 20th in the 'Road to Paris' rankings and became the 12th eligible pair for automatic qualification to Paris.
As per the qualifications rule by BWF, 48 pairs will qualify for the doubles events through the BWF ‘Race to Paris Ranking Lists’ of April 30 including 16 pairs in the men's event, 16 in the women's event and 16 in the mixed event. Notably, each doubles event will have at least one pair from each of the five BWF Continental Confederations.
Ashwini Ponnappa will feature in her third Olympics while Tanisha Crasto will make her Olympics debut. With the duo's ticket to Paris confirmed, India has representation in four disciplines except for the mixed doubles.
Ace India shuttlers HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen have confirmed their spot in the men's singles, PV Sindhu will be vying for her third medal in the women's singles. The world number one pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have recently received the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award from President Droupadi Murmu, will be aiming for the podium finish in men's doubles.
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