PETALING JAYA: The face of the world’s top 10 men’s singles has undergone some changes following the recent World Championships in New Delhi.
With two Frenchmen and one Canadian in the top 10, and Jonatan Christie reigning as world No. 1 for the first time, the shift augurs well for the game.
Jonatan is ironically, the first Indonesian men’s singles player in 25 years to reign at top since the era of Taufik Hidayat from 2000-2001.
Reigning world champion Alex Lanier of France has moved up three rungs to No. 7 in the rankings, while his teammate Christo Popov has also leapt to the No. 2 spot.
Canada’s Victor Lai, who won bronze at the world meet, continue to languish with the seasoned campaigners at No. 9.
Malaysian players continue to drift further away, but their top player and world No. 27 Leong Jun Hao will get a chance to narrow the gap when he takes part in the China Masters starting on Tuesday in Shenzhen.
He will face Jonatan in the opening round.
If he wins, the 26-year-old Jun Hao will face either Japan’s Koki Watanabe or Jason Gunawan of Singapore in the second round.
China’s Shi Yuqi, who lost to India’s Ayush Shetty in the opening round of the world meet, will get a chance to make amends.
The former world No. 1, who has dropped five rungs to sixth in the world, will face Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew.
The winner will likely face another Chinese player, Weng Hongyang.
The other top 10 players listed for the tournament are world No. 3 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen (No. 4), Denmark’s Anders Antonsen (No. 5), Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (No. 8) and China’s Li Shifeng (No. 10).
The China Masters is shaping up like a mini world meet and those who missed their chances last week will have an opportunity to restore some order.
