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RIO DE JANEIRO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Arch-rivals and finalists in the last two Olympic badminton men's singles competitions, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei, were drawn into the same half of men's singles at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games here on Tuesday.
That means twice runner-up Lee of Malaysia (Group A) -- the top seed in Rio 2016 -- and third seed Lin of China (Group E) can only meet in the semifinals. Apart from them, Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen, Hong Kong, China's Hu Yun, Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen and India's Kidambi Srikanth are in the top half.
Second seed Chen Long of China was drawn into the bottom half, while Germany's Marc Zwiebler, Denmark's Axelsen, Hong Kong, China's Ng Ka Long and South Korea's Son Wan Ho are in the same half with Chen.
In women's singles, top seed Carolina Marin (Spain) has drawn in her half the two players she has beaten in the world championships finals: China's Li Xuerui and India's Saina Nehwal. The other seeds in her half are South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun, Britain's Kirsty Gilmour and Thailand's Porntip Buranapraserstsuk.
Second seed Wang Yihan from China faces a possible quarterfinal against Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying or India's PV Sindhu, while her semifinal opponent, assuming no upsets, might be Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon, Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, South Korea's Bae Yeon Ju or Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
