The much-awaited draw for the 14 events at Para badminton’s debut at the Paralympics was conducted today at the Main Press Centre in Tokyo today.

Indonesia’s Leani Ratri Oktila, a contender in three events, will do battle with teammate and women’s doubles partner Khalimatus Sadiyah in Group A of women’s singles SL4. France’s Faustine Noel, who is expected to challenge Oktila in mixed doubles, is the third player in their three-player group. The women’s singles SL4 has four groups, with only the winner from each group going through to the semifinals. In events with two or three groups, two teams from each group progress to the knockout round.

Oktila and Hary Susanto are in Group A of mixed doubles SL3-SU5 with Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara/Akiko Sugino and Germany’s Jan-Niklas Pott/Katrin Seibert. Their biggest challengers, Lucas Mazur/Faustine Noel, are in Group B with India’s Pramod Bhagat/Palak Kohli and Thailand’s Siripong Teamarrom/Nipada Saensupa.

A number of groups have two contestants from the same team. Great Britain’s Jack Shephard and Krysten Coombs (men’s singles SH6); India’s Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar (men’s singles SL3); Indonesia’s Dheva Anrimusthi and Suryo Nugroho (men’s singles SU5); Korea’s wheelchair legend Kim Jung Jun and compatriot Kim Kyung Hoon (men’s singles WH2); Japan’s Kaede Kameyama and Akiko Sugino (women’s singles SU5); Germany’s Valeska Knoblauch and Elke Rongen (women’s singles WH1) were those from the same country, apart from Oktila and Sadiyah, to find themselves drawn in the same group.

Wheelchair WH2 star Liu Yu Tong will be challenged in women’s singles by Tatiana Gureeva and Pilar Jaurequi, while in doubles (WH1-WH2), Liu and Yin Meng Lu will have to contend with Germany’s Valeska Knoblauch/Elke Rongen and Switzerland’s Karin Suter-Erath/Cynthia Mathez.

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