Kuala Lumpur: Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) conducted the draws for both Men’s & Women’s Badminton Team Events for the 17th Asian Games in Incheon yesterday. In the men’s team event, defending Asian Games champion China were drawn in the same group with Thomas Cup runner-up Malaysia.
Both team received byes in the first round. China will probably face Hong Kong in the quarter-finals, while Malaysia will play the winners of Macau-Mongolia tie.
After a semi-final loss to Japan at the 2014 Thomas Cup semi-final, China has vowed to come back stronger in the Asian Games team event. China has strategically moved Lin Dan to the second singles by dropping Du Pengyu, and Wang Zhengming who has higher ranking than Lin Dan from the squad.
Malaysia are seeded eight in the women’s team event together with top seed China. The two teams are set to clash in the second round.
The Draw:
Men’s team event
First round: China (bye), Hong Kong vs Maldives, Malaysia (bye), Macau vs Mongolia, South Korea vs India, Japan (bye), Thailand vs Taiwan, Indonesia (bye).
Women’s team event
First round: China (bye), Malaysia (bye), Japan (bye), Maldives vs Indonesia, India vs Macau, Thailand (bye), Hong Kong vs Taiwan, South Korea (bye).
