Rio Olympics: Saina Nehwal seeded fifth; PV Sindhu, K Srikanth get ninth seed

New Delhi: Star India shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth while her compatriot PV Sindhu is seeded ninth in the women’s singles at the upcoming Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. Kidambi Srikanth, meanwhile, has received a ninth seeding in the men’s draw. Saina is world no. 5 and Sindhu is ranked 10th in women’s singles, Srikanth’s ranking is 11th in the world in men’s singles. [caption id=“attachment_2907138” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina Nehwal. AFP[/caption] The seedings are based on World Rankings as of 21 July for the final confirmed Olympic qualifiers, and will be used for the draw on 26 July. 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 in the seedings by two-time World champion Chen Long (2; China) and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan (3; China). In 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 in-form Ratchanok Intanon (4), winner of three World Superseries titles this year, is also seeded ahead of the London Olympic bronze medallist Saina. There are only four seeds in each of the three doubles categories and none of the Indian pairs figure in the seeding list. The men’s singles draw will consist of 41 players in 13 groups, while 40 competitors will be divided into 13 groups in women’s singles. Each group will have one seed. The draw in doubles will have four groups of four pairs. Each group will include a seeded pair.