Jayce
Following the Olympic draw, the trio from the British national badminton team has now learned their opponents for the Paris games.
Men’s Doubles:
Ben Lane and Sean Vendy will face off against the world’s top-ranked pair, Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang, who they previously defeated at the 2022 French Open. Since then, the Chinese duo has bested Lane and Vendy in two subsequent matches. Determined to overcome the top seeds on the biggest stage, Lane and Vendy will also face Commonwealth rivals, Malaysia’s Tokyo Olympic bronze medalists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, in Group A.
Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura from Canada are also in the same group, having previously lost to Lane and Vendy at the Commonwealth Games two years ago. Matches will take place from July 27 to 30.
Women’s Singles:
Kirsty Gilmour has been placed in Group N following the draw conducted at BWF headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. She will face sixth seed He Bingjiao from China and Keisha Fatimah Az Zahra from Azerbaijan. Gilmour has twice defeated He Bingjiao, most recently at the 2017 World Championships.
Ranked 24th in the world, Gilmour has only faced Az Zahra once, winning their match in last year’s European Women’s Team Championship qualifiers. This will be Gilmour’s third Olympic appearance, having represented Great Britain in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Despite injuries affecting her performance in Rio, she advanced to compete against fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi in Tokyo.
In the group stage, only the top-ranked player from each group will progress to the last 16, with the highest-ranked player among groups containing three top seeds automatically advancing to the quarterfinals.
Badminton matches will be held at Porte de la Chapelle Arena, starting on July 27 and concluding on August 5.
