New Delhi: Star shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and P.V. Sindhu ninth in the women’s singles competitions for the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. Kidambi Srikanth, meanwhile, is ninth seed in the men’s draw. Saina is world no. 5 and Sindhu is ranked 10th, while Srikanth’s ranking is 11th in the world. The seedings are based on Thursday’s world rankings for the final confirmed Olympic qualifiers, and will be used for the draw on July 26.
Each singles category has 13 seeds. Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and Spain’s Carolina Marin are the top seeds in men’s and women’s singles, respectively. Lee, runner-up at the last two Olympics and winner of two BWF World Superseries titles this season, is followed by two-time world champion Chen Long (2; China) and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan (3; China).
In the women’s singles, two-time world champion Marin heads a competitive field ahead of two Chinese — Wang Yihan (2) and defending Olympic champion Li Xuerui (3).
Thailand’s inform Ratchanok Intanon (4), winner of three orld Superseries titles this year, is also seeded ahead of London Olympic bronze medallist Saina. The men’s singles draw will consist of 41 players in 13 groups, while 40 competitors will be divided into 13 groups in the women’s singles. Each group will have one seed. The draw in the doubles will have four groups of four pairs. Each group will include a seeded pair.
