Based on the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) world rankings, there are 13 seeds in each singles category.

Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei is the men's top seed and will be looking for an elusive first Olympic gold after finishing as runner-up to China's Lin Dan at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

China's world champion Chen Long is ranked at two ahead of his compatriot Lin, with Denmark's European champion Viktor Axelsen seeded fourth.

In the women's draw, Spain's two-time world champion Carolina Marin is the top ranked player, ahead of Chinese pair Wang Yihan and defending Olympic champion Li Xuerui, who are second and third respectively.

Thai player Ratchanok Intanon, winner of three BWF Superseries titles this year, is seeded fourth after being cleared to play despite a positive doping test.

It was ruled that she took corticosteroid for medical reasons and remained within BWF rules.

There are only four seeds in each of the three doubles competitions, with South Koreans Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong topping the men's list.

Japan’s Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi have top billing in the women's doubles with the defending mixed doubles gold medallists, China's Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, the top seeds in their competition.

Singles players will be divided into groups A to P, but groups B, F and O will be left empty.

Each of the 13 seeds will be at the head of his or her group, with 11 featuring three players and two containing four.

No group will have two players from the same country.

Top seeds will be placed at the head of Group A with second seeds topping Group P.

The third and fourth seeds will be drawn into either Group E or L.

Other players will be drawn by lots with the top finishers in each group going through to the round of 16.

However, those to advance from groups A, E and P will receive a bye to the quarter-finals as their respective opponents would come from groups B, F and O - which do not contain any players.

In doubles, the top-seeded pair is placed at the top of Group A, second seeds at the top of Group D and seeds three and four picked by lots into B and C. 

The remaining 12 pairs are distributed in the four groups by lots, with the top two from each going through to the quarter-finals.