The absence of the big names in the Korean Open GP Gold in Jeonnam
has handed national back-up shuttler Mohd Arif Abdul Latif a massive
chance of winning his first-ever career title. The 23-year-old Arif is the top seed and received a bye in the first round yesterday. He faces Japan’s Takuya Kotaka in the second round today.
The speedy Arif should make the final, where either second seed Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka or fourth seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand awaits him. It will be the perfect chance for Arif, whose best performance this year is a quarter-final appearance in the Hong Kong Open last month, to clinch his first title.
Two other back-up shuttlers – Misbun Ramdan Misbun and Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin – also have very good chances of making their presence felt.
Ramdan is seeded seventh and also given a first round bye. He faces Czech shuttler Petr Koukal in the second round today. The lanky 21-year-old, whose performance has dipped a little recently, should ease into the quarter-finals, where he is expected to meet Tanongsak.
Eighth seed Iskandar, meanwhile, opens his campaign against local lad Yoon Joo-young today and should be good enough to reach the semi-finals for a clash with Arif.
In men’s doubles, four national pairs – Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi, Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han, Goh V Shem-Ong Jian Guo and Mohd Lufti Zaim-Teo Kok Siang – will aim to impress.
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