When was the last time India had two shuttlers in men’s singles at the Olympics?

India have a strong contingent in badminton for the Paris Olympics to be held later this year. PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will represent the national team in singles. Sindhu is one of the biggest personalities in Indian sports as she has won back-to-back medals in the Olympics.

Sindhu won the silver medal in Rio after losing to Carolina Marin. In Tokyo, she won the bronze medal after beating China’s He Bingjiao. Apart from singles, two Indian teams will also take part in the Paris Olympics. The dynamic pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty is there in men’s doubles. Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto will play in women’s doubles.

India, in the meantime, have two participants in men’s singles after two decades. Eyes will be on Lakshya and Prannoy as they gear up to play in the multi-nation event. Lakshya was impressive in the Commonwealth Games after he won gold in men’s singles and silver in the mixed team event.

Back in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, India had two players representing them in the men's singles event for the last time. Nikhil Kanetkar and Abhinn Shyam Gupta donned the national colors 20 years ago.

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How did Kanetkar and Shyam perform at the Olympics?

Kanetkar made an impressive start to his campaign in the Olympics after beating Sergio Llopis of Spain in the opening round. However, he failed to go through to the third round after losing to Denmark’s Peter Gade. Having also played for India in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and All-England Open, Kanetkar had an illustrious career.

Shyam, on the other hand, crashed out in the first round of the 2004 Olympics after losing to South Korea’s Park Tae-sang. In the same year, he won two medals in the South Asian Games in Islamabad. He is also a proud recipient of the Arjuna Award.

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