Chong Wei Feng (pic) who won his first significant title, the Kuala Lumpur Open last Sunday, is up against second seed Chen Long of China.
KL Open finalist Mohd Arif Abdul Latif is up against Sourabh Verma of India in the first round but even if he gets through to the second round, Japan’s Sho Sasaki, fresh from his Australian Open success over veteran Malaysian Wong Choong Hann on Sunday, awaits.
The draw also pits Tan Chun Seang against 15th seed Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong and he is not expected to progress.
The other men’s singles shuttlers Liew Daren, Chan Kwong Beng and Goh Soon Huat face an easier task in the first round but will be up against seed players in the second round.
World No.1 Lee Chong Wei is skipping the tournament and China, who are fielding a full strength squad spearheaded by Lin Dan, are expected to dominate the championships.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, All-England quarter-finalists Hoon Thien How-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif are drawn against second seeds and Asian Games champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the first round.
If they manage to defeat the Indonesian pair, they will have a clear run until the quarter-finals where they will face eighth seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata of Japan.
Two other pairs also have tough first round opponents.
Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Ong Soon Hock will be facing another Indonesian pair, fourth seeds Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Gunawan while the newly form combination of Lim Khim Wah-Goh Wei Shem are drawn against Lee Yong-dae-Chin Baek-cheol of South Korea.
In the women singles event, KL Open winner Lydia Cheah, Tee Jing Yi and Julia Wong will have to go through two rounds of qualifying to get into the main draw.
Courtesy of The Star
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