PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Open, the curtain raiser for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour next year, will see local favourites Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong aiming to produce a strong performance in the super 1000 event at the Axiata Arena from Jan 9-14.
Zii Jia, who was the second seed last year, was bundled out in the first round by Kodai Naraoka and the Japanese shuttler also sent Tze Yong packing in the second round.
Both players also have testing draws for the 2024 edition but both players will be more confident after having improved on their results over the last three months.
Zii Jia, who is now ranked world No. 10, will play Lu Guangzu of China and the independent shuttler should be confident as he has a 4-1 win-lose record favouring him.
However, the homester should not look just at clearing the first round but must also brace for a possible second-round clash against Indonesian Anthony Ginting and then another likely difficult contest with World Masters Finals runner-up Shi Yuqi of China in the last eight.
Zii Jia secured his first title of the year at the Arctic Open in Finland and also finished runner-up in the Denmark Open in October, and he should maintain his improving performance with the Olympic qualifying period heading towards its final four months.
Tze Yong has yet to get past the preliminary rounds of the Malaysian Open in his first two attempts since 2022 and he must be prepared to be at his best when he begins his campaign against Koki Watanabe of Japan in the first round.
Watanabe defeated Tze Yong in their only clash that took place in the second round of the Japan Open in July and the Malaysian should use the home ground advantage to avenge his defeat.
A win will most likely pit Tze Yong against either Denmark’s world No. 11 Anders Antonsen of Denmark or India’s world No. 8 H.S. Prannoy in the second round.
Prannoy was a quarter-finalist in the event last year and won the Malaysian Masters in July, and could be hard to beat should Tze Yong bump into him.
No Malaysian player has survived beyond the second round since Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s title winning performance in 2018 and the fans will be rooting for Zii Jia and Tze Yong to progress to the last eight. In the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei is the only player who has qualified for the tournament.
Jin Wei, the world No. 31, has a realistic chance of getting past the first round where she will face Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun, who is ranked No. 30.
If Jin Wei gets past her opponent, she is expected to meet world No. 7 Gregoria Mariska of Indonesia for a place in the last eight.
