With the unfortunate tournament cancellations this year, there are no more tournaments that hold Olympic qualification points. We take an early glimpse at what the Tokyo 2021 qualification picture looks like now for Europe.
Of course, the below lists are by no means a final list of qualifiers. They are a representation of which players/pairs could qualify if this ranking list (based only on the accrual of world ranking points from tournaments within the Olympic Qualification Period) was used to determine the list of qualifiers.
Tripartite Commission positions and host positions have not been confirmed at this time but it is likely that a number of these positions will be utilised. So, things can still change!
Men’s singles
WR 3 – Anders Antonsen (DEN)
WR 4 – Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
WR 34 – Brice Leverdez (FRA)
WR 35 – Mark Caljouw – (NED)
WR 44 – Pablo Abian (ESP)
WR 45 – Misha Zilberman (ISR)
WR 53 – Toby Penty (GBR)
WR 54 – Felix Burestedt (SWE)
WR 60 – Nhat Nguyen (IRL)
WR 64 – Kalle Koljonen (FIN)
WR 67 – Sergey Sirant (ROC)
WR 68 – Kai Schaefer (GER)
WR 69 – Ade Resky Dwicahyo (AZE)
WR 79 – Raul Must (EST)
WR 82 – Luka Wraber (AUT)
WR 84 – Artem Pochtarov (UKR)
WR 91 – Gergely Krausz (HUN)
WR 94 – Emre Lale (TUR)
Anders Antonsen, the 2021 European Champion, leads the continents charge as number three in the world. When the Olympic qualification was frozen last year, Viktor Axelsen was number six in the world, having missed out on a lot of badminton through injury. Now he has moved up to fourth and after dealing with the blow he received in Kyiv, it is all systems go towards Tokyo.
Rasmus Gemke is at number 15 but will miss out due to Antonsen and Axelsen filling up the Danish allowance.
Poland’s Michal Rogalski was coming in hot for a late qualification grab, with three back-to-back quarterfinals, but ranked at 100 he is just short of catching the Turk, Emre Lale. Rogalski, 33, missed out on many tournaments due to injury and then the scarcity of tournaments due to the pandemic negatively impacted his Olympic dream.
For the first time in history, Azerbaijan will partake in badminton at the Olympics. Indonesian-born Ade Resky Dwicahyo qualified comfortably at 69 in the world, with tournament wins in Cameroon and Algeria in 2019.
Women’s singles
WR 4 – Carolina Marin (ESP)
WR 18 – Mia Blichfeldt (DEN)
WR 23 – Evgeniya Kosetskaya (ROC)
WR 26 – Kirsty Gilmour (GBR)
WR 29 – Neslihan Yigit (TUR)
WR 37 – Qi Xuefei (FRA)
WR 41 – Yvonne Li (GER)
WR 42 – Lianne Tan (BEL)
WR 50 – Sabrina Jaquet (SUI)
WR 52 – Ksenia Polikarpova (ISR)
WR 54 – Kristin Kuuba (EST)
WR 58 – Soraya De Visch Eijbergen (NED)*
WR 61 – Laura Sarosi (HUN)
WR 62 – Linda Zetchiri (BUL)
WR 67 – Jordan Hart (POL)*
WR 68 – Airi Mikkela (FIN)*
WR 72 – Martina Repiska (SLK)
*Places to be reassigned. These three qualification spots are still up for grabs due to three different reasons. Dutch player Soraya De Visch Eijbergen knows that the Netherlands has very strict qualification parameters, so despite securing a spot, she will have to give it up. Jordan Hart recently changed her sporting allegiance from Wales to Poland, not her nationality. This means she cannot represent Wales or Poland at any major championship such as the Olympics. Finn Airi Mikkela has retired from professional badminton, thus will not be going to Tokyo.
Some of the European players potentially in contention to take these spots are Maria Ulitina (UKR) WR 83, Wiktora Dabczynska (POL) WR 101 and Centre of Excellence (CoE) player Katerina Tomalova (CZE) WR 103, maybe joining fellow CoE player from Slovakia, Martina Repiska, who currently holds the final qualification spot.
The winner of the Bulgarian battle for a seat on the plane is Lina Zetchiri, who pipped Mariya Mitsova in the final straight, just two ranking places behind. Zetchiri played in the 2016 Rio Olympics and topped her group, defeating Sabrina Jaquet and Kirsty Gilmour, before losing to Sung Ji Hyun in the round of 16.
The 2021 European Championships silver medallist, Line Christophersen, sadly is the only player from the women’s singles podium not going to the Olympics. At 30 in the world, she is 12 places behind her compatriot Mia Blichfeldt in 18. However, judging by her rapid rise in level, we may be seeing her at an Olympics or two in the future.
Coming into 2020, at that point very much an Olympic year, Carolina Marin found herself ranked 15 in the world. As the reigning Olympic Champion, the Spaniard was ferociously focused on improving her rank before Tokyo. Around 18 months later, she finds herself in a more workable four in the world.
For the full Race to Tokyo ranking, click here.