Saina seeded No. 5 at Rio Olympics; Sindhu 9

Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Spain's Carolina Marin get pride of place in the men's and women's singles respectively.

India’s No 1 shuttler Saina Nehwal has been seeded fifth and compatriot P V Sindhu ninth in the women's singles at the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In the men’s draw, Kidambi Srikanth, who is ranked world No 11, is seeded ninth.

Saina and Sindhu are ranked No 5 and 10 respectively.

The seedings are based on the world rankings as on July 21 for the final confirmed Olympic qualifiers and will be used for the draw on July 26.

Each singles category has 13 seeds.

Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei and Spain's Carolina Marin have been given pride of place in the men's and women's singles respectively.

Lee, runner-up at the last two Olympics and winner of two BWF World Superseries titles this season, is followed in the seedings by two-time World champion Chen Long (2; China) and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan (3; China).

In the women's singles, two-time World champion Marin heads a competitive field ahead of two Chinese -- Wang Yihan (2) and defending Olympic champion Li Xuerui (3).

Thailand's in-form Ratchanok Intanon (4), winner of three World Superseries titles this year, is also seeded ahead of London Olympics bronze medallist Saina.

There are only four seeds in each of the three doubles categories and none of the Indian pairs figure in the seeding list.

The men's singles draw comprises 41 players in 13 groups, while 40 competitors will be divided into 13 groups for the women's singles.

Each group has one seeded player.

The draw for doubles will have four groups of four pairs. Each group will include a seeded pair.

IMAGE: Saina Nehwal

Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images