The Tokyo Olympics are finally here! The tournament will be separated into a Preliminaries Round (Group Stage) and Elimination Round stretching from July 24 – August 2 featuring all 5 events: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

1.  Most anticipated event: MEN’S SINGLES

Kento Momota’s racket – YONEX Astrox 99

Chou Tien Chien’s racket – YONEX Duora Z-Strike

The Men’s singles event will be a highly contested event. Featuring a mini group stage where players are thrown into pools of 3. The top player from each of the pools will then make it through to the Round of 16 while the winner of Pool A and Pool P will go straight to the Quarter-Finals.

Once we reach the Round of 16, the matches will become a huge toss up with all players capable of triumphing. The fight for the Quarter-Finals and onwards is something you don’t want to miss!

Early favorites to make the final eight:

Kento Momota (JPN)

Chou Tien Chien (TPE)

Victor Axelsen (DEN)

Anders Antonsen (DEN)

Lee Zii Jia (MAS)

Anthony Ginting (INA)

Chen Long (CHN)

Shi Yu Qi (CHN)

The top 2 seeds Kento Momota and Chou Tien Chien look to earn an immediate quarter-final berth by topping their own pools. The next 4 players listed have also been performing consistently well on the tour leading up to the Olympics. I have the last 2 spots rounded up from China as they look to take home a 4^th Gold medal in a row in the Men’s Singles event.

2.  Underdogs (Dark Horses) that could surprise you:

MS - Lee Zii Jia

Coming off of an impressive 2021 All England Open victor, Lee Zii Jia has everything to prove and will look to continue this momentum in Tokyo. Although Lee Zii Jia can throw powerful smashes and has a passionate drive to win, he will need to channel his emotions and focus hard to pull out the crucial points when the points become very close in a deciding game.

Potential finish: Gold Medal (1^st)

Featured racket – VICTOR Thurster Ryuga

WS - An Se Young

Another young shuttler who has proven to be capable of competing with her seniors in the Women’s Singles category. At such a young age An Se Young has already shown flashes of great skill while carrying herself physically. As long as she can fight through grit of long and tough rallies, there is nothing stopping her.

Potential finish: Bronze Medal (3^rd)

Featured racket – YONEX Astrox 77

MD – Lee Yang & Wang Chi Lin

Another challenger who are coming off of strong performances from the World Tour Finals in Thailand, Lee Yang & Wang Chi Lin will command respect from their opponents as they are consistent proven champions will a powerful offensive game. While all eyes are on the Men’s Doubles pairs from Indonesia, this pair from Chinese Taipei could make a huge leap onto the podium.

Potential finish: Silver Medal (2^nd)

WD – Apriyani Rahayu & Greysia Polii

A veteran pair that has consistently competed at every tournament. Although injuries have slowed down the pair, the well rested Indonesian pair will look to make a statement on the biggest stage of badminton. However due to their Olympic qualifying points, they are slotted into a tough Group A and will need to play one of the other Top 4 seeds in the Quarter-Finals in order to compete for a place on the podium. This will be a true test of the veteran Greysia Polii and how their experience as a partnership can succeed.

Potential finish: Bronze Medal (3^rd)

MXD- Yuta Watanabe & Arisa Higashino

Playing in front of the home court fans is always a great motivator for any player and especially for both Yuta Watanabe & Arisa Higashino who feed off of momentum greatly in their play. As both players mature and play a steady game, they can pose a great threat to the top pairs from China and Thailand. It is important to note that Yuta Watanabe will be competing in the Men’s Doubles event as well so fatigue may kick in around the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final stage.

Potential finish: Gold Medal (1^st)

3.  Cheering on Team Canada!

Team Canada accomplished a historic feat for badminton this year at the Olympics. This year, Team Canada will be sending their largest badminton team. They are ONE of the NINE countries that will have players competing in each of the 5 categories. Lead by veteran Michelle Li who is competing in her 3^rd Olympics along with 19 year old rookie Brian Yang, Team Canada is set to make an impact!

MS – Brian Yang

WS – Michelle Li

MD – Nyl Yakura/Jason Ho-Shue

WD – Kristen Tsai/Rachel Honderich

MXD- Joshua Hurlburt-Yu/Josephine Wu

Shoes featured by Team Canada:

YONEX 75^th Power Cushion 65Z2 Mens (White)

https://yumo.ca/collections/yonex-badminton-shoes/products/75th-power-cushion-65z2-mens-white-preorder-yumo-pro-shop?aff=19

YONEX 75^th Power Cushion 65Z2 Ladies (White)

https://yumo.ca/products/75th-power-cushion-65z2-ladies-white-preorder?pr_prod_strat=copurchase&pr_rec_pid=4680012890199&pr_ref_pid=4680327331927&pr_seq=uniform&aff=19

YONEX Power Cushion SHB65Z2 Men – Kento Momota Edition

https://yumo.ca/products/2020-yonex-power-cushion-shb65z2kmm-badminton-shoes-kento-momota-edition-sapphire-navy-gold?aff=19

2020 Yonex Power Cushion SHB65Z2M Men [Cobalt Blue]

 https://yumo.ca/collections/yonex-badminton-shoes/products/2020-yonex-power-cushion-shb65z2m-badminton-shoes-cobalt-blue?aff=19

4.  Where to watch?

The BWF Youtube channel and Instagram page is a great source to catch all the action! Although not all courts may be broadcasted during the Group Stage, you can be sure to catch all the Quarter-Final and onwards action on their live streams! See below the links to the Youtube and IG page:

https://www.youtube.com/user/bwf

https://www.instagram.com/bwf.official/

LIKE What you saw? FOLLOW me on Instagram as I reveal my tournament picks/podium finishes for each event!

By. Angus Li
Instagram: @angusli.yumo