Paris Olympics 2024

[sameerph]

Balraj Panwar qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by finishing third in Men's Single Scull final at the World Rowing Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.

So, first and only quota in rowing for us as I think qualifying is done.

[sameerph]

Can he (Yuki) qualify for the Olympics?

Only if Bops agrees to team up with him. No other Indian has the ranking to make a pair with Yuki which will be good enough for Olympics.

[jayakris]

^^^ At this point Bops will have to team up with Yuki at the Olympics. Can't justify picking any of the others who are all below 90 and have not done anything like Yuki recently. Also because they have a decent chance to be among the 8 seeds, which is also important to avoid facing top teams too early (though rankings and seedings are least reliable at the Olympics because a lot of good singles players who are topnotch in doubles if they play it seriously, will be there)

[prasen9]

Who is the best partner for Rohan according to some of you who follow the game, watch doubles, etc. more closely? I have not watched much doubles and only watched Sumit this year.

[jayakris]

^^^ RamK, if Bops would ever try playing with him for a few events (and if RamK were focusing only on doubles). But that is not an option, so Yuki is the best in my opinion. If not Yuki, then it should be Balaji and then Niki, as they who both have their serve and ground strokes at a decent top-600 singles level, which is again needed at Olympics in my opinion. Just my hunch.

[prasen9]

But, he is not playing with Yuki either. So, why not just team up with Ramk and get him to play say two tournaments together even if it is a lower ranked tournament where Ramk can play singles qualies or whatever. Why is that not an option? The Asian Games debacles makes me be a bit afraid of a Bopanna-Bhambri combo.

[jayakris]

I don't think Bops wants to play with RamK. I think he is okay with Yuki and may even play one or two prep events with him. So the option of trying with RamK probably doesn't exist.

[Anirban]

Any possibility of RB teaming up with Sumit (Who might use his Singles ranking) to enter into Olympics being played on Clay? Reason is the apparent bonhomie both have (Not taking into consideration the Doubles’ skills, or lack of it) although it shouldn’t matter professionally… Could that be an effective pairing as per SI experts? Schedule-wise, preparation in the run-up to Paris shouldn’t also be a concern as Sumit can easily enter/get into Qualifying of all/most ATP 250/500 events over next 2/3 months…

[arjun2761]

Rohan can take Sumit to the Olympics even if Sumit does not make it on his own in singles. A top 10 doubles player can partner with anyone from his country that has a top 300 singles or doubles rank, so Sumit would certainly qualify as Rohan’s partner.

[jayakris]

^^^ Sumit and Yuki may even qualify on S+D rankings (I have not checked, but I think they might make it in a 32-size draw). In that case, we can actually have two pairs, like, say RB and RamK for one and Yuki-Sumit for another. Actually Yuki-Sumit might even work quite well...

[Anirban]

^^^ Sumit and Yuki may even qualify on S+D rankings (I have not checked, but I think they might make it in a 32-size draw). In that case, we can actually have two pairs, like, say RB and RamK for one and Yuki-Sumit for another. Actually Yuki-Sumit might even work quite well...

This is an interesting proposition Jay Sir, any history of Sumit-Yuki having played Doubles together, ever? Also, are the pairings decided by AITA/IOA (As they would be representing Bharat) or RB will have the final/overriding say while choosing his Partner (Being a Top-10 direct entry)?

[PKBasu]

Sumit-Yuki wouldn't be an ideal pairing, as neither of them has a particularly strong serve.
I would say the potential pairings are RB-Yuki (strongest), RB-Sumit, RB-RamK, RB-Balaji.
If RB choses to pair with Yuki, other doubles pairings would be RamK-Sumit (potentially quite good, complementing Sumit's backcourt skills with RamK's serve and volley), Sumit-Balaji, RamK-Jeevan, Sumit-Arjun. All these become viable if Sumit makes it to top-50 in singles, and some of these other guys improve their doubles rankings.

[sameerph]

^^^ Sumit and Yuki may even qualify on S+D rankings (I have not checked, but I think they might make it in a 32-size draw). In that case, we can actually have two pairs, like, say RB and RamK for one and Yuki-Sumit for another. Actually Yuki-Sumit might even work quite well...

Sumit and Yuki will not make it to Olympics together. The cut-off at Tokyo olympics was combined rankings was 76. Even if it falls a little it is not going to go down below 80-85 or so. No chance for Sumit- Yuki who have a combined rank of 136 right now.

I had some hopes for 2 Indian pairs when Yuki-Saketh were doing well last year that they will be both get close top 40 which would have given a chance for them to enter as a pair and than we could have had Rohan pairing with RamK or Balaji or someone else as second pair.

But, that chance is gone now.

[jayakris]

Sumit and Yuki will not make it to Olympics together. The cut-off at Tokyo olympics was combined rankings was 76. Even if it falls a little it is not going to go down below 80-85 or so. No chance for Sumit- Yuki who have a combined rank of 136 right now.

Oh I didn't remember that it was that high. I thought it might have been 125 or something and that they might squeeze in, in the end... If it was 85, then no chance. It won't be that much lower this time.

[arjun2761]

^^^^A deep run in the French Open should do it! A QF for Sumit would take him to #50 and a SF run for Yuki would take him to #35 which should put them in contention.