ON paper, it's easy to see who are the favourites in the Tokyo Olympics badminton men's singles event.
But Rashid Sidek believes the Olympics form book is not all black and white.
The former Olympic bronze medallist feels that the underdogs would usually rise to the occasion in major events like this.
The 53-year-old told Timesport: "It's really difficult to predict. On paper, you have Kento Momota (Japan) and Viktor Axelsen (Denmark), who are currently in form, but I won't say they are the clear favourites to win gold.
"In men's singles, you still have Chou Tien Chen (Taiwan) who is a great player and the Indonesians, Anthony (Sinisuka) Ginting and Jonatan Christie.
"Who would have expected Jonatan to win the Asian Games gold in 2018?
"That's exactly what I mean.
"Then we have our very own Lee Zii Jia who defeated both Momota and Axelsen to be crowned All England champion in March.
"He stands as good a chance of winning the Olympics as the rest of the field.
"There are no clear favourites at the Olympics."
Rashid also warned of the threat posed by China's shuttlers, who will be making a return to international badminton after an absence of more than a year due to Covid-19.
China's Chen Long is the only returning gold medallist from all five disciplines.
"We don't know how strong the China players are. How have they been preparing over the past year, we don't know.
"Another factor that cannot be ignored is the fact that most players have not had enough competition leading up to the Olympics.
"Covid-19 made it a tough year for everyone.
"As a former player, I say it's going to be a very open and exciting affair," added Rashid.
This year, Malaysia will be represented by six Olympic newcomers, Zii Jia (men's singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men's doubles), Soniia Cheah (women's singles), Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (women's doubles) and returning silver medallists from five years ago in Rio, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles).
The badminton competition gets underway on Saturday at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, and will end on Aug 2.