Badminton at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's singles

Women's singles
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Women's singles; at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Venue	Musashino Forest Sport Plaza
Dates	24 July – 1 August 2021
Competitors	43 from 39 nations
Medalists
	← 2016 Rio 2024 Paris →

The women's singles badminton tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 24 July to 1 August at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza at Tokyo. A total of 43 players from 37 nations competed.

The event was won by China's Chen Yufei who defeated reigning World Number 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei in the final. Reigning World Champion and 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist P. V. Sindhu of India won the bronze medal, defeating China's He Bingjiao in the playoff. This was India's third consecutive medal in this discipline, and Chinese Taipei's first.

Background

This was the 8th appearance of the event as a full medal event. Badminton was introduced as a demonstration sport in 1972, held again as an exhibition sport in 1988, and added to the full programme in 1992.^[1]

The reigning champion was Carolina Marín of Spain. Marín was the 4th-ranked player during the qualifying period and would have qualified to return, but withdrew due to an injury.^[2] The other two medalists from 2016, silver medalist P. V. Sindhu of India and bronze medalist Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, both qualified with Top-10 rankings. P. V. Sindhu was also the reigning world champion and the only one of the three former Olympic medalists to be medalled again where she won the bronze medal.

Qualification

The badminton qualification system was designed to ensure that 86 men and 86 women receive quota spots; the size of the women's singles field adjusts to hit that target quota. Following revisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualifying periods were set between 29 April 2019 to 15 March 2020 and 4 January to 13 June 2021, with the ranking list of 15 June 2021 deciding qualification.

There were 38 initial quota places for the women's singles: 34 from the ranking list, 3 from Tripartite Commission invitations, and 1 host nation place. Nations with multiple players in the top 16 of the ranking list could earn 2 quota places; all others were limited to 1. Players were taken from the ranking list in order, respecting the national limits, until the places were filled. Each continent was guaranteed one spot, either through the invitational spots or by replacing the lowest-ranked player if necessary. The host nation spot was unnecessary (Japan qualified two players through the ranking list) and was reallocated to the ranking list.

Additional places beyond 38 were added where players qualified in both the women's singles and one of the doubles events. This resulted in 5 additional places added to the ranking list. One tripartite invitational place was not used. The total qualified list was thus 43 players.

Competition format

The tournament was started with a group phase round-robin followed by a knockout stage.^[3] For the group stage, the players were divided into between 12 and 16 groups of between 3 and 4 players each. Each group was played in a round-robin. Players finishing top in each group advanced to the knockout rounds. The knockout stage was a four-round single elimination tournament with a bronze medal match. If there were fewer than 16 groups in the group stage, some players would receive a bye in the round of 16.^[4]

Matches were played best-of-three games. Each game was played to 21, except that a player must win by 2 unless the score reached 30–29.^[4]

Schedule

The tournament was held over a 10-day period, with 9 competition days and a 1 open day.^[5]^[6]

P	Preliminaries	R	Round of 16	QF	Quarter-finals	SF	Semi-finals	M	Medal matches

Date	24 Jul		25 Jul		26 Jul		27 Jul		28 Jul		29 Jul		30 Jul		31 Jul		1 Aug		2 Aug
Event	M	E	M	E	M	E	M	E	M	E	M	E	M	A	M	E	A	E	A	E
Women's singles	P										R		QF			SF		M

Seeds

A total of 14 players were given seeds.

Chen Yufei (CHN) (gold medalist)
Tai Tzu-ying (TPE) (silver medalist)
Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) (quarter-finals)
Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) (quarter-finals)
Ratchanok Intanon (THA) (quarter-finals)
P. V. Sindhu (IND) (bronze medalist)
An Se-young (KOR) (quarter-finals)

He Bingjiao (CHN) (fourth place)
Michelle Li (CAN) (round of 16)
Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA) (round of 16)
Beiwen Zhang (USA) (round of 16)
Kim Ga-eun (KOR) (round of 16)
Mia Blichfeldt (DEN) (round of 16)
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA) (round of 16)

Group stage

The group stage was played from 24 to 28 July. The winner of each group advanced to the knockout rounds.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Chen Yufei (CHN)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	31	+53	2	Advance to quarter-finals
2	Neslihan Yiğit (TUR)	2	1	1	2	2	0	65	52	+13	1
3	Doha Hany (EGY)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	18	84	−66	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	11:20	Chen Yufei	2–0 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Doha Hany	21–5	21–3
27 July	11:20	Neslihan Yiğit	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Doha Hany	21–5	21–5
28 July	12:20	Chen Yufei	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Neslihan Yiğit	21–14	21–9

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	An Se-young (KOR)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	30	+54	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Clara Azurmendi (ESP)	2	1	1	2	2	0	63	54	+9	1
3	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan (NGR)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	21	84	−63	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
24 July	20:00	An Se-young	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Clara Azurmendi	21–13	21–8
26 July	12:00	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	0–2 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Clara Azurmendi	10–21	2–21
27 July	19:20	An Se-young	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Dorcas Ajoke Adesokan	21–3	21–6

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	41	+43	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Kristin Kuuba (EST)	2	1	1	2	2	0	70	74	−4	1
3	Daniela Macías (PER)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	45	84	−39	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
24 July	09:40	Busanan Ongbamrungphan	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Daniela Macías	21–4	21–9
26 July	18:00	Kristin Kuuba	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Daniela Macías	21–19	21–13
27 July	18:40	Busanan Ongbamrungphan	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Kristin Kuuba	21–16	21–12

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) (H)	2	2	0	2	0	+2	84	43	+41	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Evgeniya Kosetskaya (ROC)	2	1	1	2	2	0	65	77	−12	1
3	Yvonne Li (GER)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	56	85	−29	0

Source: TOCOG
(H) Host

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	11:20	Nozomi Okuhara	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Yvonne Li	21–17	21–4
26 July	10:00	Evgeniya Kosetskaya	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Yvonne Li	22–20	21–15
28 July	10:20	Nozomi Okuhara	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Evgeniya Kosetskaya	21–6	21–16

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Michelle Li (CAN)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	51	+33	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Martina Repiská (SVK)	2	1	1	2	2	0	76	73	+3	1
3	Nikté Sotomayor (GUA)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	48	84	−36	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	12:00	Michelle Li	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Nikté Sotomayor	21–8	21–9
26 July	18:40	Martina Repiská	2–0 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Nikté Sotomayor	21–19	21–12
28 July	11:00	Michelle Li	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Martina Repiská	21–18	21–16

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	He Bingjiao (CHN)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	23	+61	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Sorayya Aghaei (IRI)	2	1	1	2	2	0	56	63	−7	1
3	Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (MDV)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	30	84	−54	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	12:40	He Bingjiao	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq	21–6	21–3
26 July	11:20	Sorayya Aghaei	2–0 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq	21–14	21–7
28 July	11:00	He Bingjiao	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Sorayya Aghaei	21–11	21–3

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Beiwen Zhang (USA)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	38	+46	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Marija Ulitina (UKR)	2	1	1	2	2	0	62	76	−14	1
3	Fabiana Silva (BRA)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	53	85	−32	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	18:00	Beiwen Zhang	2–0 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Marija Ulitina	21–12	21–7
26 July	12:40	Fabiana Silva	0–2 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Marija Ulitina	14–21	20–22
28 July	10:20	Beiwen Zhang	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Fabiana Silva	21–9	21–10

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mia Blichfeldt (DEN)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	34	+50	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Chen Hsuan-yu (AUS)	2	1	1	2	2	0	83	88	−5	1
3	Linda Zetchiri (BUL)	2	0	2	1	4	−3	59	104	−45	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
25 July	14:00	Mia Blichfeldt	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Chen Hsuan-yu	21–7	21–14
27 July	13:20	Linda Zetchiri	1–2 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Chen Hsuan-yu	16–21	22–20	8–21
28 July	09:40	Mia Blichfeldt	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Linda Zetchiri	21–10	21–3

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	P. V. Sindhu (IND)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	42	+42	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Cheung Ngan Yi (HKG)	2	1	1	2	3	−1	82	91	−9	1
3	Ksenia Polikarpova (ISR)	2	0	2	1	4	−3	66	99	−33	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
25 July	10:40	P. V. Sindhu	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Ksenia Polikarpova	21–7	21–10
27 July	12:40	Cheung Ngan Yi	2–1 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Ksenia Polikarpova	21–12	15–21	21–16
28 July	11:00	P. V. Sindhu	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Cheung Ngan Yi	21–9	21–16

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kim Ga-eun (KOR)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	50	+34	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Yeo Jia Min (SGP)	2	1	1	2	2	0	69	59	+10	1
3	Haramara Gaitan (MEX)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	40	84	−44	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
24 July	20:40	Kim Ga-eun	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Haramara Gaitan	21–14	21–9
27 July	13:20	Yeo Jia Min	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Haramara Gaitan	21–7	21–10
28 July	09:00	Kim Ga-eun	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Yeo Jia Min	21–13	21–14

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) (H)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	38	+46	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Kirsty Gilmour (GBR)	2	1	1	2	2	0	69	70	−1	1
3	Mahoor Shahzad (PAK)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	39	84	−45	0

Source: TOCOG
(H) Host

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
24 July	09:40	Akane Yamaguchi	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Mahoor Shahzad	21–3	21–8
27 July	14:00	Kirsty Gilmour	2–0 Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Mahoor Shahzad	21–14	21–14
28 July	09:00	Akane Yamaguchi	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Kirsty Gilmour	21–9	21–18

Group M

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA)	2	2	0	4	0	+4	84	47	+37	2	Advance to elimination round
2	Lianne Tan (BEL)	2	1	1	2	2	0	70	56	+14	1
3	Thet Htar Thuzar (MYA)	2	0	2	0	4	−4	33	84	−51	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
25 July	10:00	Gregoria Mariska Tunjung	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Thet Htar Thuzar	21–11	21–8
27 July	12:40	Lianne Tan	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Thet Htar Thuzar	21–6	21–8
28 July	09:40	Gregoria Mariska Tunjung	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Lianne Tan	21–11	21–17

Group N

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ratchanok Intanon (THA)	1	1	0	2	1	+1	61	49	+12	1	Advance to elimination round
2	Soniia Cheah Su Ya (MAS)	1	0	1	1	2	−1	49	61	−12	0
3	Laura Sárosi (HUN) (Z)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: TOCOG
(Z) Withdrew after one match

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
25 July	19:20	Ratchanok Intanon	~~2–0~~ Archived 26 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine (voided)	Laura Sárosi	~~21–5~~	~~21–10~~
27 July	14:00	Soniia Cheah Su Ya	N/P Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Laura Sárosi	Cancelled
28 July	11:40	Ratchanok Intanon	2–1 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Soniia Cheah Su Ya	19–21	21–18	21–10

Group P

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tai Tzu-ying (TPE)	3	3	0	6	0	+6	126	70	+56	3	Advance to quarter-finals
2	Nguyễn Thùy Linh (VIE)	3	2	1	4	2	+2	111	89	+22	2
3	Qi Xuefei (FRA)	3	1	2	2	4	−2	87	108	−21	1
4	Sabrina Jaquet (SUI)	3	0	3	0	6	−6	69	126	−57	0

Source: TOCOG

Date	Time	Player 1	Score	Player 2	Game 1	Game 2
24 July	09:00	Qi Xuefei	0–2 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Nguyễn Thùy Linh	11–21	11–21
24 July	13:00	Tai Tzu-ying	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Sabrina Jaquet	21–7	21–13
26 July	10:00	Qi Xuefei	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Sabrina Jaquet	21–10	21–14
26 July	14:00	Tai Tzu-ying	2–0 Archived 25 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Nguyễn Thùy Linh	21–16	21–11
28 July	09:00	Tai Tzu-ying	2–0 Archived 28 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Qi Xuefei	21–10	21–13
28 July	09:40	Nguyễn Thùy Linh	2–0 Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine	Sabrina Jaquet	21–8	21–17

Finals

The knockout stage was played from 29 July to 1 August. One round was held per day. This stage was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match.^[7]

Round of 16				Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Gold medal match

				A1	Chen Yufei (CHN)	21	21

				C1	An Se-young (KOR)	18	19
C1	An Se-young (KOR)	21	21

D1	Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA)	15	15
									A1	Chen Yufei (CHN)	21	13	21

									G1	He Bingjiao (CHN)	16	21	12
E1	Nozomi Okuhara (JPN)	21	21

F1	Michelle Li (CAN)	9	7
				E1	Nozomi Okuhara (JPN)	21	13	14

				G1	He Bingjiao (CHN)	13	21	21
G1	He Bingjiao (CHN)	14	9

H1	Beiwen Zhang (USA)	21	7^r
														A1	Chen Yufei (CHN)	21	19	21

														P1	Tai Tzu-ying (TPE)	18	21	18
I1	Mia Blichfeldt (DEN)	15	13

J1	P. V. Sindhu (IND)	21	21
				J1	P. V. Sindhu (IND)	21	22

				L1	Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)	13	20
K1	Kim Ga-eun (KOR)	17	18

L1	Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)	21	21
									J1	P. V. Sindhu (IND)	18	12

									P1	Tai Tzu-ying (TPE)	21	21
M1	Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA)	12	19											Bronze medal match

N1	Ratchanok Intanon (THA)	21	21
				N1	Ratchanok Intanon (THA)	21	18	18						G1	He Bingjiao (CHN)	13	15

				P1	Tai Tzu-ying (TPE)	14	21	21						J1	P. V. Sindhu (IND)	21	21

References

^ "Badminton – The Olympic Journey". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^ "Comunicado oficial: Carolina Marín no participará en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio". www.badminton.es (in Spanish). 1 June 2021. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
^ "Tokyo 2020 will be the eighth time badminton was being held as an Olympic medal sport". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Everything you need to know about Olympic Badminton at Tokyo 2020". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ "Schedule - Badminton Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympian Database. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
^ "Badminton Competition Schedule". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
^ "Badminton Women's Singles - Bracket Results". Olympics.com. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

External links

Group play Archived 10 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine

[1] "Badminton – The Olympic Journey". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 24 July 2021.

[2] "Comunicado oficial: Carolina Marín no participará en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio". www.badminton.es (in Spanish). 1 June 2021. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.

[3] "Tokyo 2020 will be the eighth time badminton was being held as an Olympic medal sport". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

[Tokyo2020Summary-4] "Everything you need to know about Olympic Badminton at Tokyo 2020". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.

[5] "Schedule - Badminton Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympian Database. Retrieved 24 February 2020.

[6] "Badminton Competition Schedule". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

[7] "Badminton Women's Singles - Bracket Results". Olympics.com. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Olympic badminton women's singles champions
Demonstration	1972: Noriko Nakayama (JPN)
Exhibition	1988: Hwang Hye-young (KOR)
Official	1992: Susi Susanti (INA) 1996: Bang Soo-hyun (KOR) 2000: Gong Zhichao (CHN) 2004: Zhang Ning (CHN) 2008: Zhang Ning (CHN) 2012: Li Xuerui (CHN) 2016: Carolina Marín (ESP) 2020: Chen Yufei (CHN) 2024: An Se-young (KOR)