BAM confident all events will be filled in Rio Olympics

National singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei is currently ranked 28th in the world.

KUALA LUMPUR: Four divers have qualified for next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, but none have made it yet in badminton.

So, are the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) worried?

Far from it.

BAM secretary Ng Chin Chai is confident that Malaysia will be represented in every event at the Rio Games by the time the one-year qualifying period for the badminton ends next April.

“We have a few shuttlers in the running for the Olympic Games. We should qualify for all the events and have at least eight players in Rio,” said Chin Chai.

“It may be more if we have two qualifiers in the singles events.”

Only 38 men and 38 women singles players are eligible for the Olympics. The number of qualifiers are smaller in the doubles events, with only 16 pairs allowed to play in the men and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

A country can have a maximum of two qualifiers if they have two players in the top 16 ranking of the singles events and two pairs in the top eight of the doubles events by the end of the qualification period.

In the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings, the top-ranked Malaysian shuttlers in all the events are Lee Chong Wei (28th, men’s singles); Tee Jing Yi (50th, women’s singles - pic, top); Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (13th, men’s doubles); Woon Khe Wei-Vivian Hoo (11th, women’s doubles); and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (17th, mixed doubles - pic, below). 

Except for Khe Wei-Vivian, all the top-ranked shuttlers will be looking to improve on their world rankings at the Japan Open in Tokyo.

Chong Wei will open his campaign in the qualifying tournament on Tuesday while the rest will play in the first round of the main draw on Wednesday.

Chin Chai does not expect any players to suffer a drastic drop in their world rankings although competition will get tougher in the next few months.

“All they have to do is stay consistent and stay away from injuries. I’m confident all of them can improve on their world rankings,” he said.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Malaysia had only six players – silver medallist Chong Wei, Jing Yi, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Peng Soon-Liu Ying – in the fray.