PETALING JAYA: The spotlight will be on men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao in the Korean Open in the absence of the country’s No. 1 Lee Zii Jia.
Zii Jia, who moved up to No. 4 in the latest world rankings despite suffering a first-round exit in the Japan Open last week, did not register for the Korean tourney in Seoul, leaving Jun Hao as the sole representative for Malaysia in the singles.
Jun Hao dropped from No. 27 to No. 29 in the rankings after going down fighting in three games to home favourite Kodai Naraoka in the second round in Japan last week and will be keen to go further in Seoul.
The 25-year-old, who has been placed in the bottom half of the draw, will play another Japanese Takuma Obayashi in the first round today in a repeat of the opening match in Japan which Jun Hao won.
Another win will see Jun Hao face either Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi or Obayashi’s teammate Yushi Tanaka in the second round.
If the Malaysian clears this hurdle as well, he could go up against Denmark’s world No. 6 Anders Antonsen in the quarter-finals.
On paper, Antonsen should have no problems clearing his opening two hurdles against Hong Kong qualifier Chan Yin Chak and either China’s Lei Lanxi or Singapore’s Jason Teh.
While several top players have decided to skip the World Tour Super 500 rated competition, the tourney has still attracted the likes of second seeded Antonsen, China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi, his teammates Li Shifeng (No. 5), Lu Guangzu (No. 13), Weng Hongyang (No. 26) and newly crowned Japan Open champion Alex Lanier of France, who moved up to No. 20 in the world after his stunning success.
Yuqi and Lanier, who were both placed in the top half of the draw, could meet again in the second round in what will be a mouth-watering showdown after the latter toppled the former in the semi-finals en route to winning the title in Japan.
