Olympic champion Lin Dan will launch his bid for back-to-back gold medals against unseeded Irishman Scott Evans following the draw for the men's singles badminton competition Monday.
The world number one from China -- who is seeded two for the Olympics behind Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei -- is the heavy favourite to clinch his second gold medal when the tournament starts at Wembley Arena on Saturday.
Lin's second seed status in London is something of an anomaly, with the seedings for the event being decided after he had made a temporary slip to world number two in the rankings.
Top seed Lee meanwhile opens against Ville Lang of Finland, who progressed to the third round at Beijing four years ago.
Lee has been receiving stem cell treatment on torn ankle ligaments sustained at the Thomas Cup in China in May.
Third seed Chen Long of China faces Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana, who arrives in London in a rich vein of form following his victory in the Singapore Open in June.
Another Chinese hopeful, Chen Jin, the fourth seed, faces Poland's world number 35 Przemyslaw Wacha.
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