KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s Olympic gold medal prospect Lee Zii Jia is expected to have a walk in the park as the seventh-seeded player received an easy draw for the Paris Olympics.
The former All England champion will take on Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettasinghe, ranked 72nd in the world, and Spain’s Pablo Abian in Group G.
However, it looks like an uphill battle for Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, as they are in the “Group of Death” in the women’s doubles category.
The Olympic debutants have been placed together with the world number one pair Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan from China, Japan’s sixth-ranked Wakana Nagahara-Mayu Matsumoto, and Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti from Indonesia in Group A.
For the record, Apriyani Rahayu won the Tokyo Olympics gold medal with her then-partner Greysia Polii.
In the mixed doubles category, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei found themselves in a favourable position to make it to the quarter-finals as they have been drawn against China’s Huang Dongping-Feng Yanzhe, the United States’ Vinson Chou-Jennie Gai, and Terry Hee-Jessica Tan from Singapore.
Dongping is hoping to win the Olympic gold medal for the second time with her new partner, Yanzhe.
In Tokyo, Dongping won the gold medal with her then-partner Wang Yilyu.
“For the mixed doubles draw, there’s an opportunity for them to advance from the group stage. However, that doesn’t mean it will be easy, as they are up against China, former Olympic gold medalists, as well as pairs from Singapore and the US.
“This is the Olympics; they need to prepare thoroughly, mentally, physically, and in training, and take care of their health,” said Akademi Badminton Malaysia coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
For the women’s singles event, Goh Jin Wei is drawn against South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun and South Africa’s Johanita Scholtz.
It is a manageable draw for Jin Wei, as she has beaten Ga-eun once in their previous three encounters and defeated Scholtz at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
The badminton events for the Paris Olympics will be held from July 27 to August 5 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles draw has been postponed by the Badminton World Federation to a later date due to uneven participation, with the badminton world body accepting Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar’s participation following the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Following CAS’s decision, the International Olympic Council has validated their participation as the 17th pair in the men’s doubles event.
The draw was conducted at the BWF headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and was determined by the players’ rankings as of July 9. – July 12, 2024