■Paris Olympics™ Badminton Men’s Singles First Round (1st local time, Porte de la Chapelle Arena)

Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (23, NTT East Japan), ranked 5th in the world, and Kenta Nishimoto (29, JTEKT), ranked 10th, were eliminated in the first round.

Two Japanese men’s singles players played next to each other at the same time. Nishimoto took the first game 21-16, but lost to Thailand’s No. 8 K. Vichitsarn (23) after a fierce battle of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Naraoka was completely defeated by former world No. 2 and World Championship bronze medalist Chou Tien-Cheng (34, Chinese Taipei) 12-21, 16-21.
*Photo is of Nishimoto