HYDERABAD: The race to Paris is gaining momentum as Indian shuttlers will be keen to make the cut for the Olympics as quickly as possible. Barring Sindhu and the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are recovering from injuries, all the other Indian probables will be seen in action at the season opener, the Malaysia Open Super-1000 tournament which kicks off in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
HS Prannoy, PV Sindhu and men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Shetty are more or less assured of making it to the Olympics. But the key is to finish off the qualification and focus on training for the Games.
"Our focus is to finish the qualification as soon as possible and focus on other aspects," said chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who will be leading India into the fifth successive Games. He was appointed in 2006.
Up for grabs is the second men's singles spot and the fight is between Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth. Lakshya is at No.17 and requires only a couple of semifinal finishes before April end to qualify. In singles, two players in the top-16 can represent a country at the Olympics.
Srikanth is at No.24 and needs to do quite well to overtake Lakshya. Priyanshu Rajawat at No.30 has an outside chance.
Gopichand says a few impressive finishes at big international events can improve the rankings. "It all depends on how well they do in the big tournaments. All of them are doing well but it is important to get the results," he said.
Health issues slowed down Lakshya last year but the former All England finalist was good in patches last year. "He has been very good at the team championships at the Asian Games. He won the Canada Open and reached the semifinals in Japan. He has a good potential and it is just about getting things in line on the big day," Gopichand said.
Despite not being able to win a single tournament last year, Sindhu is at the 10th spot in Olympic qualifying and is also a medal contender. Gopichand says that the women's singles scene has not changed much over the last five years. "Apart from An Se Young, the same set of players are there in women's singles. I am sure Sindhu will strike form this year and will be a top contender," Gopichand said.
Prannoy is one player who improved a lot in the last one year. "One good quality he developed was peaking at the right time. Despite several issues he managed to do quite well at the World Championships and the Asian Games. I am confident he can repeat the same this season," the chief coach said.
Satwik-Chirag pair was a revelation last year and the coach feels they need to do nothing different this year. "They should continue from where they left last season. Just stick to the basic aspects and be confident," Gopichand said.
