Asian shuttlers sweep seedings in Rio Olympics
Except for the women's singles where Spain's Carolina Marin is the top seed, Asians rule the seedings in the men's singles, men's and women's doubles and the mixed doubles in the Rio Olympics badminton competition which begins at Rio Centro-Pavilion 4 on Aug 11.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, the current world No 1 is the top seed in the men's singles with China's Chen Long seeded second and his compatriot and defending champion Lin Dan seeded third. Two Danes - Viktor Axelsen and Jan O Jorgensen at seeded fourth and fifth respectively.
The rest of the seeds are Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen (six), Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto (seven), South Korean Son Wan-ho (eight) followed by India's K. Srikanth at nine and Hong Kong's Hu Yun (10) and Ng Ka Long (11). The cast is completed by Germany's March Zwiebler (12) and England's Rajiv Ouseph (13).
World number one Marin - Europe's main hope for the gold in the women's singles - gets the top billing but the next nine seeded players are all Asians with China's Wang Yihan (silver medallist at the 2012 London Olympics) and defending champion Li Xuerui seeded second and third.
Thailand's 2013 world champion Ratchanok Intanon, who had a brief stay as world number one early this year after winning the Yonex India Open, the Malaysia Open and the Singapore Open, is the fourth seed.
Another former world number one Saina Nehwal of India, who won the bronze medal in 2012 London Olympics, is seeded fifth followed by Japan's reigning All-England champion Nozomi Okuhara (sixth), Korea's Sung Ji-hyun (seventh), Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying (eighth), India's P.V. Sindhu (ninth) and Japan's Akane Yamaguchi at number 10.
Great Britain's Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland is seeded No 11 and Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (12) and Korea's Bae Yeon-ju (13) complete the seedings in the women's singles.
There are only four seeded pairs in the doubles.
The crack Korean pair of Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong are the top seeds in the men's doubles with defending champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan are seeded second. Another Korean pair - Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang - are the third seeds while China's Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan are seeded fourth.
Japan's Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi, the world number one, get the top billing in the women's doubles. China's Tang Yuanting-Yu Yang are the number two seeds followed by Indonesia's Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii (third) and Korea's Jung Kyung-eun-Shin Seung-chan seeded fourth.
Defending champions Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei of China get the top billing in the mixed doubles. Korea's Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na are the second seeds and Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir the third seeds, Denmark's Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinne Pedersen, the bronze medal winners in London 2012 are seeded fourth.
THE SEEDINGS
Men's Singles
1. Lee Chong Wei (Mas)
2. Chen Long (Chn)
3. Lin Dan (Chn)
4. Viktor Axelsen (Den)
5. Jan O Jorgensen (Den)
6. Chou Tien Chen (Tpe)
7. Tommy Sugiarto (Ina)
8. Son Wan-ho (Kor)
9. K. Srikanth (Ind)
10. Hu Yun (Hkg)
11. Ng Ka Long (Hkg)
12. Marc Zwiebler (Ger)
13 Rajiv Ouseph (Eng)
Women's Singles
1. Carolina Marin (Spn)
2. Wang Yihan (Chn)
3. Li Xuerui (Chn)
4. Ratchanok Intanon (Tha)
5. Saina Nehwal (Ind)
6. Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn)
7. Sung Ji-hyun (Kor)
8. Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe)
9. P. V. Sindhu (Ind)
10. Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn)
11. Kirsty Gilmour (GB)
12. Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha)
13. Bae-Yeon-ju
Men's Doubles
1. Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Kor)
2. Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina)
3. Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor)
4. Fu Haifeng-Zhang Nan (Chn)
Women's Doubles
1. Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn)
2. Tang Yuanting-Yu Yang (Chn)
3. Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii (Ina)
4. Jung Kyung-eun-Shin Seung-chan (Kor)
Mixed Doubles
1. Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (Chn)
2. Ko Sung-hyun-Kim Ha-na (Kor)
3. Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina)
4. Joachim Fischer Nielsen-Christinne Pedersen (Den)
Related Article
World and Olympic Champions Competing at the BAMTC 2023
Job Vacancy: Chief Operating Officer
