KUALA LUMPUR: Though the Olympic men's singles field has narrowed down to just four contenders, it has become so unpredictable that there is no clear favourite for the gold.
This was stated by former Olympic bronze medallist Rashid Sidek today.
Rashid, 56, said it is difficult to predict who will advance to the men's singles final. No one has a clear edge as the competition saw the likes of India's unseeded Lakshya Sen shocking seeded players and Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn ousting China's top seed Shi Yu Qi in the quarter-finals.
The semi-finals at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena tomorrow will see Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia taking on Kunlavut, and Denmark's defending champion Viktor Axelsen meeting Lakshya.
"In my opinion, it (the semi-finals) is wide open as the top seed (Yu Qi) has been defeated. The match between Lakshya and Axelsen, too, is not a foregone conclusion.
"Lakshya has sent home many seeded players, so to me it is hard to predict who will advance to the final," said Rashid who won the men's singles bronze in 1996, Atlanta.
Rashid said nerves will be a huge factor in the semi-finals as the Olympics only come once every four years, and this can cause players to overthink.
"Whoever can control their nerves better will come out victorious."
He said to deal with this, the players must ensure that they are well prepared, and they also need to have alternatives in case plan A fails to work.
"The pressure will be high for everyone, let's take Zii Jia and Kunlavut. You cannot say the pressure is high for only Zii Jia.
"Kunlavut is the reigning world champion, so the people of Thailand will have high hopes that he can win them gold.
"It's up to each player how they handle that pressure, they cannot avoid it. They need to be well prepared before entering the court and have a variety of strategies in case Plan A does not work."