KUALA LUMPUR – There will be no replacement or a fresh draw for the badminton mixed doubles competition at the Paris Olympics, even after the removal of Danish duo Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje from the list.
Earlier today, Badminton Denmark issued a statement announcing that Christiansen had chosen to skip the Olympics due to unintentional errors made in reporting his “whereabouts” with Anti-Doping Danmark.
As a result, the mixed doubles competition in Paris will only feature 15 pairs as compared to the original 16 from four groups.
For the record, Christiansen-Boje were initially drawn in Group C alongside Japan’s Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet and Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF), in a statement, said: “BWF can confirm that Danish mixed doubles player Mathias Christiansen has withdrawn from the Paris Olympic Games badminton competition.
“In consultation with the Games’ tournament referee, Christiansen and his partner Alexandra Boje have been removed from Group C in the mixed doubles draw.
“There is no provision in the Olympic Qualifying Regulations for a replacement pair to be elevated after the draw has been conducted nor is a re-draw necessary as the withdrawal has not severely imbalanced the draw.
“As such, the mixed doubles draw will now have 15 pairs with Group C being a group of three.”
In the mixed doubles, Malaysia will be represented by world number nines Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
The Malaysian debutants are in Group D with China’s second-ranked Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping, Singapore’s Terry Hee-Jessica Tan and the United States’ Vinson Chiu-Jennie Gai.
Only the top two pairs from each of the four groups, A to D, will advance to the quarter-final stage.
Badminton events at the Olympics will start on July 27 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena. – July 17, 2024