PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei has fortunately avoided his nemesis Lin Dan of China in the first round of the World Championships, but he will still be in for a tough fight when the badminton tournament begins from Aug 5-11 in Guangzhou, China.
Chong Wei, who turns 31 in October and is still bidding to win his first world title, will face Ireland’s Scott Evans in the first round.
A win will see him take on dangerous young Indonesian Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka in the second round but it is the third round where his real challenge begins as his likely opponent could be 14th seed Wang Zhengming of China.
If Chong Wei beats Zhengming, he will be up against another in-form player – eighth seed Tommy Sugiarto, who won his first Super Series title, the Singapore Open last month, and then a possible semi-final match against third seed Du Pengyu of China.
Meanwhile, Lin Dan who is now ranked No. 100 in the world, is placed in the bottom half of the draw and takes on USA’s Sattawat Pongnairat in the first round.
World No. 2 Chen Long is the second seed while a rejuvenated Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand is the fourth seed. Both are expected to meet in the semi-finals barring any upsets.
Besides Chong Wei, Malaysia will also be represented by world No. 15 Chong Wei Feng and world No. 17 Liew Daren.
Wei Feng is the 15th seed and has a tricky opening match against England’s Rajiv Ouseph. He is slated to meet either Lin Dan or fifth seed Kenichi Tago of Japan in the third round.
Daren on the other hand will take on Russia’s Vladmir Malkov first, with a win pitting him against 10th seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the second round.
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