KUALA LUMPUR - National men’s singles badminton ace Lee Zii Jia can look forward to an easy passage into the next round after the Tokyo Olympics grouping draw was favourable to him.
The ninth-seeded Zii Jia, who is also the 2021 All England champion, was drawn in Group M together with two European players, Frenchman Brice Leverdez and Artem Pochtarov of Ukraine.
In the men’s doubles, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were placed in Group D with second-seeded Indonesian pair Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan, Choi Solgyu-Seo Seungjae of South Korea, and Canadian pair Jason Anthony Ho-Shue/Nyl Yakura.
Rio 2016 mixed doubles silver medallists Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying were drawn in Group D alongside 2019 World Championships bronze medallist and second seed Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping of China, Mark Lamfuss-Isabel Hettrich of Germany and Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, women’s singles shuttler Soniia Cheah was drawn in Group N with fifth seed from Thailand Ratchanok Intanon and Laura Sarosi of Hungary.
A bumpy road, however, lies ahead for women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean as they were drawn in Group A alongside top seeded Sayaka Hirota-Yuki Fukushima of Japan, Apriyani Rahayu-Greysia Polii of Indonesia and Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith of Great Britain.
The badminton competition will get underway from July 24-Aug 2 at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23-Aug 8. - Bernama. July 9, 2021
