KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia faces an easy mission to clear the group stage after receiving a favourable draw for the Paris Olympic badminton competition.
In the draw held at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) headquarters here today, the seventh-seeded 2021 All-England champion should have no problems getting past Group G, where he will have world number 63 Pablo Abian of Spain and world number 72 Viren Nettasinghe of Sri Lanka for company.
If the Kedah-born world number seven Zii Jia tops Group G, he is set to face his first tricky test in the round of 16 as he is likely to meet Indonesia’s world number nine Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who has been drawn in Group H.
National women’s singles professional shuttler Goh Jin Wei has been given a tougher draw after being pitted against 12th seed Kim Ga Eun of South Korea and Johanita Scholtz of South Africa in Group H.
Malaysian women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, the world number 13, could not have asked for a tougher group assignment after being drawn with world number one and top seeds Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan of China and world number nine Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia in Group A.
There is better news for national mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei after they were drawn in Group D with second seeds Feng Yan Zhe-Huang Dong Ping of China, Americans Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai and Singapore’s Terry Hee Yong Kai-Jessica Tan Wei Han.
The top two pairs in the group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, following a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing, the BWF announced that it will conduct the men’s doubles draw on another date yet to be determined.
The Paris Olympic badminton competition will be held at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena from July 27 to Aug 5.
Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) director of coaching Rexy Mainaky is optimistic that the mixed doubles pair will be able to get past the group stage and he also called on the women’s doubles pair to have faith in themselves in the quadrennial Games.
“The opportunity is there for them to get past the group stage, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy one, (but) there’s an opportunity. Tang Jie-Ee Wei must be mentally well prepared and it is also important that they stay fit and healthy.
“I hope Pearly-Thinaah can play like they have nothing to lose. They must realise that if they want to win, they cannot expect an easy time. They must prepare well if they want to get past the group stage... and be confident,“ he said through an audio recording shared with reporters today.
