KUALA LUMPUR: Men's pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are relieved after avoiding the "Group of Death" in the Paris Olympics draw, but are taking nothing for granted.
In Monday's postponed men's doubles draw, world No. 5 Aaron-Wooi Yik were placed in Group A alongside world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China, Canada's Nyl Yakura-Adam Dong, and Britain's Sean Vendy-Ben Lane.
The top two finishers from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
The favourable draw will boost Aaron-Wooi Yik's chances as they aim to improve upon their bronze medal performance in Tokyo three years ago.
"I think the draw we got was okay, a 'standard' one. When we looked at Group D, that's the extremely tough one," said Aaron.
While the pair are expected to advance to the quarter-finals with relative ease, Aaron insists they must remain focused.
"We have to stay focused regardless," he stressed.
Wooi Yik added: "With the draw out now, our preparation direction is clearer. We will prepare accordingly, based on the opponents we're facing."
Aaron-Wooi Yik have indeed avoided the "Group of Death" in the unprecedented five-pair Group D, which includes Taiwan's defending champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin, world No. 2 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark, China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi, 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan and Americans Vinson Chiu-Joshua Yuan
The Olympic men's doubles draw faced an unexpected delay. Originally scheduled for last Friday, it was postponed to Monday following a significant development.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a directive to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to include French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar in the competition.
This decision came after Corvee-Labar successfully appealed their initial exclusion.
Their omission had resulted from a BWF adjustment to world rankings in April, which had altered the qualification standings.
The French duo's successful appeal led to a last-minute change in the tournament structure.
The men's doubles event will now see 17 pairs instead of 16 with the inclusion of the Frenchmen.