Badminton at Tokyo 2020 Olympics will start from July 24 and will run until August 2. Last week’s badminton draw allocated the grouping of 173 shuttlers - 87 men and 86 women into 14 groups each. The three doubles categories (men’s, women’s and mixed) have four groups each.

Defending Olympic champion Chen Long will look to follow in the legendary Lin Dan's footsteps by winning successive Olympic golds at the upcoming Games. However, he will face stern competition from the likes of double world champion Momota Kento, who is currently in red-hot form as well as bronze medal winner from Rio 2016 Viktor Axelsen.

In the women’s singles category, Okuhara Nozomi will be eager to shine on home soil but Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying is certain to make that difficult. With reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin ruled out due to an ACL injury, the women’s singles event promises to be difficult to call with India’s golden girl PV Sindhu also a leading contender. 

The Badminton Association of India confirmed a nine-member travelling contingent that includes three coaches and two physios alongside four shuttlers in B. Sai Praneeth, PV Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.

Pullela Gopichand opted out as there was only one place available for a trainer. Agus Dwi Santoso got the nod as he has been training with Sai Praneeth since the pandemic.

India have a chance of winning a hat-trick of medals in Badminton at the World Games after Saina Nehwal won bronze in 2012 and PV Sindhu won silver in the 2016 Olympic games.

Competing in Women’s singles, India’s medal hopeful PV Sindhu, 6th seed, will open her account against Polikarpova Ksenia of Israel on July 25 at 7:10 AM IST. The 26-year-old shuttler has been slotted in Group J and will play Ksenia and Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi on July 28 at 7:30 AM IST.

Sai Praneeth, who is seeded 13th, is in Group D of Men’s singles and will play Misha Zilberman of Israel in his opening game on July 24 at 9:30 AM IST. The other shuttler in his group is Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw, who Praneeth will face on July 28 at 2:30 PM IST. 

In singles, the shuttler who finishes at the top of their group will progress to the knockout stage.

Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked 10th in Men’s doubles and in Group A, will face Chinese Taipei’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in their opening match on July 24 at 8:50 AM IST. They will also face Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia on July 26 at 9:10 AM IST, and Ben Lane and Sean Vendy of England on July 27 at 8:30 AM IST. 

Men’s singles: B. Sai Praneeth

Women’s singles: PV Sindhu

Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

Badminton at Tokyo Olympics 2020 schedule, fixtures and live India match times

All match times are in Indian standard time (IST)

Men’s Singles at Tokyo 2020 Olympics:

Group Stage (24-29 July)

Round of 16 (30 July) - 5:30 AM IST

Quarter-final (1 August) - 9:30 AM IST

Semi-final (2 August) - 9:30 AM IST

Final (2 August) - 4:30 PM IST

Women’s Singles at Tokyo 2020 Olympics:

Group Stage (24-29 July)

Round of 16 (30 July) - 12:00 PM IST

Quarter-final (31 July) - 2:30 PM IST

Semi-final (1 August) - 5:00 PM IST

Final (2 August) - 9:30 AM IST

Men’s Doubles at Tokyo 2020 Olympics: 

Group Stage (24-28 July)

Quarter-final (30 July) - 5:30 AM

Semi-final (31 July) - 5:30 AM

Final (2 August) - 9:30 AM IST 

Where to watch Badminton at Tokyo 2020 Olympics live in India?

Badminton at Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be telecast on the Sony Pictures Network India. Coverage will begin live at 5.30 AM IST on Sony’s TV channels in India.

Live streaming of the Badminton matches at Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be available on the SonyLIV app and website.