PETALING JAYA: The race between China and Indonesia to have two men’s doubles pairs in the Paris Olympics is set to go down the wire.
Homesters Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi and Indonesia’s Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana will have one last chance to grab a coveted spot in the Olympics when they compete in the Asian Championships which starts today in Ningbo, China.
The Asian meet is the last event offering ranking points towards qualification for the showpiece event.
Yuchen-Xuanyi have the advantage over the Indonesians as they currently sit eighth in the Race to Paris rankings with 74,458 points while the latter are one spot behind them with 72,179 points.Two pairs from a country can make the cut for the Olympics only if both finish in the top eight.
Shohibul-Bagas, who captured the All-England title in 2022, need to progress two rounds further than the Chinese pair in the Asian meet if they hope to overtake them and join teammates Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in Paris.
Yuchen-Xuanyi, meanwhile, will be out to maintain their position in the top eight and qualify for the Olympics along with compatriots Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Yuchen had captured silver in the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 with his former partner Li Junhui.
Shohibul-Bagas though will not give up without a fight and received a timely boost in their Olympics chase after finishing runners-up in the Swiss Open in Basel last month.
“Becoming runners-up at the Swiss Open has done our confidence a world of good,” said Shohibul in an interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“As a result, we are pumped up going into the Asian meet and we are ready to fight.
“We need to stay focused on our task and I’m optimistic.
“Hopefully at the very minimum we can replicate our result in Basel. But of course, higher is better,” added Shohibul.
Shohibul-Bagas will open their campaign in Ningbo against Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren while Yuchen-Xuanyi will play India’s M.R. Arjun-Dhruv Kapila in the first round.
