PETALING JAYA: Men's singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia was handed a tricky draw in the World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
In the draw released on Saturday (Dec 7), world No. 8 Zii Jia was placed in Group A along with Denmark's world No. 2 Anders Antonsen, China's Li Shifeng (No. 6) and Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen (No. 9).
Only the top two in the group will progress to the last four.
In the men's doubles, national No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have a tough draw as they will take on China's world No. 6 He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu and Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (No. 4) and Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza (No. 11) in Group B.
Another Malaysian pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have been placed in Group A with Denmark's world No. 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen and Taiwan's two-time Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin and Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan.
Full group stage draw (Malaysians unless stated)
Men’s singles
Group A: Anders Antonsen (Den), Chou Tien-chen (Tpe), Lee Zii Jia, Li Shifeng (Chn).
Group B: Shi Yuqi (Chn), Kodai Naraoka (Jpn), Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha), Jonatan Christie (Ina).
Women’s singles
Group A: Wang Zhiyi (Chn), Gregoria Mariska (Ina), Aya Ohori (Jpn), Busanan Ongbamrungphan (Tha).
Group B: Han Yue (Chn), An Se-young (Kor), Supanida Katethong (Tha), Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn).
Men’s doubles
Group A: Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den), Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe), Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe).
Group B: He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (Chn), Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (Ina), Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza (Ina), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Women’s doubles
Group A: Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn), Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand (Ind).
Group B: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn), Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor), Febriana Dwipuji-Amalia Cahaya (Ina), Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn).
Mixed doubles
Group A: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn), Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg), Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang (Tpe), Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn).
Group B: Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle (Ina), Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn).
