Nguyen and Darragh formally selected for Olympics

Nhat Nguyen and Rachael Darragh have been officially selected to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Nguyen, will be competing in his second Games, having made his debut at the Tokyo Olympics three year ago.

Donegal woman Darragh will be making her first Olympic appearance.

The badminton events take place in the Porte de la Chapelle Arena from the 27 July to the 4 August.

Qualification for badminton in the Olympic Games was based on ranking, with Nguyen impressing with a 19th place ranking position when rankings closed.

Darragh was ranked 34th, with an anxious wait for the 10 May, when rankings closed.

Darragh’s aunt Chloe Magee competed in the women’s singles event at three Olympic Games, and her uncle Dan Magee is the performance director for the team.

Darragh said: “It’s very hard to explain the emotions you feel with someone tells you that you’ve qualified for the Olympics. It’s a dream that has been there for my whole life, since I was little.”

Nguyen is confident he can improve on his last performance: “With my higher ranking this time around, I could qualify quite safely, but I wanted to raise my level and get closer to the best in the world. I’m grateful to be going to my second Olympic Games, and I hope the experience from Tokyo will help me.”

It is the first official selection of athletes to Team Ireland for Paris.

The remaining team announcements for each sport will follow over the coming weeks.