The French Open Super 750 is an event close to Indian badminton fans in recent years, given how well Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have done in Paris in the past. It’s the event where they made their first major breakthrough in 2019, reaching the final with three upset wins. In 2022, they went all the way to win their first Super 750 title.
All those results came in October, when the French Open is usually held. But in 2024, the tournament starts on Tuesday, in the middle of March. Why is that significant? The coming week will give the best shuttlers in the world, the first look at the badminton venue for the Paris Olympics (and Paralympics).
Contrary to the proverb, in sports, familiarity can breed confidence. And that will be the big aspect of the next few days, not just for the Indian contingent.
Former international Guru Sai Dutt, who will be accompanying HS Prannoy as his coach, said one of the first things he looked for is how many the arena can seat. He points out how there wasn’t a test event for badminton before Tokyo because of Covid-19 and it perhaps played a part in many early upsets.
“It is quite important to know where you are actually playing, how it feels to be moving on the court, how the conditions will be, and even to know how it looks from outside and inside,” Guru told The Indian Express. “One of the first things I look for is how big the seating capacity is and the size of the hall. The bigger the arena is, the shuttles and playing conditions are little slower. Major events in recent times like Asiad and Worlds have been in bigger halls, we haven’t seen fast conditions mostly anywhere.”
Moved from Pierre de Coubertin Stadium to the Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle, 2024’s French Open comes at a crucial juncture. It’s vital for both earning qualifying points to earn a place at the Olympic Games and for those who are all but assured of a spot in the final piece.
This newly set-up facility, with a capacity of 6,700 for badminton, is 2.5km from the Olympic and Paralympic Village. The Indian contingent is staying relatively closer to the venue, in a hotel about 15 minutes away, and as such there are no plans to simulate travel that would be similar during the Games.
“The hall looks big, it feels really good the moment you enter, you feel like getting on the court and playing. They have set it up nicely, it’s dark and has an All England feel,” Guru said after the contingent had their pre-tournament training session.
The former top 20 player pointed out there is no evident Olympic Games buzz on the streets yet, and it feels like any other BWF tournament in that sense, but to perform well in the tournament will be as important as collecting valuable data.
“It’s not just about one particular match that I am sitting on the coaching chair for. It’s about the entire tournament, and how things change from day 1 to day 3 and so on. Condition during a match is just one aspect. Things will progressively change, we need to be aware. Sometimes in the morning, the conditions could be fast. And with more people coming in, things change. There could be a partial drift. I need to be aware if a shuttle is going short because of drift from a certain place.”
Beyond preparations for the marquee event, a lot is riding on the next couple of weeks for the likes of Lakshya Sen, Ashwini Ponnappa-Tanisha Crasto and Gayatri Gopichand-Treesa Jolly. Lakshya needs a deep run to push himself into the top 16 in Race to Paris lists, while the women’s doubles pairs are unfortunately pitted against one another right away, as their battle to take up one spot heats up. Meanwhile, Satwik-Chirag (top seeds), Prannoy and PV Sindhu will be looking to fine-tune their preparations as their place in Paris is more secure.
2024-03-05 02:42:39
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