Top rivals in Chong Wei’s way at Malaysian Open

Staying strong: Japan’s Kento Momota is on a 17-match unbeaten streak dating back to March when he won the Vietnam International Challenge. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Chong Wei has a mountain to climb in his bid to reclaim the Malaysian Open for his 12th crown.

In the draw released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) yesterday, the seventh seeded Chong Wei has been drawn alongside world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and Chinese arch-rival Lin Dan, the defending champion, and Chen Long, the 2015 winner, in the same half of the draw.

The US$700,000 (RM2.78mil) tournament will be held at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil from June 26-July 1.

Chong Wei should have no problem clearing his first hurdle against Kazumasa Sakai of Japan and is expected to face either Thailand’s Suppanyu Avihingsanon and South Korean veteran Lee Hyun-il in the second round.

A mouth-watering quarter-final clash pitting Chong Wei against Axelsen is on the cards in what would be a rematch of their recent Thomas Cup meeting in Bangkok.

Chong Wei, however, will fancy beating Axelsen a second time, having outclassed the latter 21-9, 21-19 in the first singles encounter in Malaysia’s 2-3 defeat to Denmark in the group stage.

Even if he does power past Axelsen, the challenge is far from over with Lin Dan and Chen Long – the men who shattered his Olympic gold dream a combined three times in 2008, 2012 and 2016 – possibly standing in his way in the last four.

While Chong Wei last scored a win over Chen Long to win the Hong Kong Open last November, Lin Dan remains a tough nut to crack.

Chong Wei was beaten in all their last three encounters – the latest at the All-England quarter-finals in March.

Chong Wei was also denied his 12th Malaysian Open title by Lin Dan in last year’s final.

If all goes well, Chong Wei could set up a dream final against Japan’s Kento Momota, who’s seen as the strongest contender in the bottom half of the draw which also features South Korea’s Son Wan-ho, India’s K. Srikanth and Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen.

Momota, who led Japan to the runners-up spot behind China in the Thomas Cup recently, is on a 17-match unbeaten streak dating back to March when he won the Vietnam International Challenge.

Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying (women’s singles), Indonesia’s Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (women’s doubles), China’s Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan and Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (mixed doubles) have all confirmed their participation.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Michelle Chai has no doubts about fans thronging the Axiata Arena, despite the tournament clashing with the FIFA World Cup.

“This Malaysian Open has to be one of the country’s biggest sporting events this year,” said Michelle.

“The fans are in for a treat with all the top 10 players in one tournament. It’s one of the rare chances to catch all of them in action at one time.

“You don’t get this too often, except tournaments such as the All- England where you need to travel and pay for a ticket that costs double and triple what you’re paying the Malaysian Open.

“We’ve also adjusted the schedule for matches to commence at 2pm in the week days, so you may still be able to make it for the evening fixtures after work.

“The football World Cup shouldn’t affect the tournament as the timing is different. So come and cheer for our national heroes first and then watch football at night.”

Other first round matches involving Malaysians:

Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik vs Phillip Chew-Ryan Chew (US), Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong vs Tinn Isriyanet-Kittisak Namdash (Tha), Chooi Kah Ming-Low Juan Shen vs Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina), Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi vs Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den);

Women’s singles: Soniia Cheah vs Tai Tzu-ying (Tpe), Goh Jin Wei vs Pai Yu-po (Tpe), Lee Ying Ying vs Li Chiang-ying (Tpe),

Women’s doubles: Goh Yea Ching-Tee Jing Yi vs Kim Hye-rin-Kong Hee-yong (Kor), Vivian Hoo-Soong Fie Cho vs Naoko Fukuman-Kurumi Yonao (Jpn), Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean vs Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn), Lim Jee Lyn-Yap Zhen vs Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn), Lim Chiew Sien-Tan Sueh Jeou vs Ariel Lee-Sydney Lee (US);

Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing vs Zhang Nan-Li Yinhui (Chn), Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying vs Wang Chi-lin-Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe), Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie vs Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha).