Singles, Men

For the singles group stage, the number of seeds corresponded to the number of groups, 13, with the seeded players placed at the top of each group. The remaining players were drawn into the groups, one by one, until all players were allocated a group. After the round-robin, the top player from each group progressed to the round of 16, with the top three seeds going straight into the last eight. The only seeded player who did not reach the knock-out stage was Germany’s Marc Zwiebler.

China’s Chen Long, the number two ranked player, dropped only one set, when the eighth seeded Korean Son Wan-Ho won the second set of their quarter-final. All his other matches, apart from one walkover, were achieved with straight sets wins. In the final he beat his long-time rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, the then number one ranked player, 21-18, 21-18. The bronze medal went to Viktor Axelsen from Denmark, who overcame the defending Olympic champion Lin Dan of China, who was ranked one place above the Dane.