KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Malaysia’s Olympic shuttlers from Badminton Association of Malaysia left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this morning for their training base in Aire Sur La Lys, France.

Led by national coaching director Rexy Mainaky, the squad — including men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, mixed doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, and women’s doubles pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei — will spend the next ten days acclimatising to the French weather and undergoing intensive training, New Straits Times (NST) reported today.

The Olympic badminton competition will start on July 27 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena.

Located in northern France, Aire Sur La Lys is a two-hour drive from the competition venue.

It features state-of-the-art badminton and fitness facilities designed to optimise the national shuttlers’ performance and recovery, reported NST.

Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik, along with independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia — who leaves for Paris on July 21 — are strong contenders for medals.

The men’s doubles draw is yet to be held as French duo Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), leading to their inclusion in the tournament.

The pair failed to qualify after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) adjusted its rankings in April due to a points calculation error from last year, leading to Corvee-Labar’s appeal to the CAS.

However, with the IOC accepting the BWF’s request to make an exception for them, Corvee-Labar will participate in the Olympic men’s doubles event, which typically includes 16 pairs.

The addition will change the competition format to three pools of four pairs and one pool of five pairs, with the official draw date yet to be announced, reported NST.

Meanwhile, women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah face a different challenge.

Drawn into the notoriously difficult Group A, aptly nicknamed the “group of death,” they face China’s world No. 1 pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, Japan’s world No. 6 pair Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara, and Indonesia’s world No. 9 pair Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, said NST.

Only the top two pairs from each group will progress to the knockout stage.

The Paris Olympic badminton competition will be held at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena from July 27 to August 5.