Tough openers await Malaysian shuttlers at BWF World Tour Finals

Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will be the first to play in the morning against world No 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

PETALING JAYA: Most of the Malaysian shuttlers at the prestigious BWF season-ender World Tour Finals (WTF) kicking off in Hangzhou, China, tomorrow face tough opening matches in their respective groups.

All the eight top qualifiers in the RM11 million badminton championship’s five categories have been drawn into two groups of four each, where they will play in the round-robin format. The top two winners in the groups will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be a knockout stage.

Up-and-coming men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will be the first to play in the morning against world No 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, who have beaten them six times in their eight meetings so far.

However, the Malaysian world No 7 pair are capable of staging another upset like they did in their last meeting at the Arctic Open championships in October, where they defeated the Danish pair 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 after an intense 72-minute match in the final.

On Thursday, they will be up against Taiwanese pairs Lee Yang-Wang Chilin (world No 13), followed by Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan (world No 10) the next day.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who won the Japan, China and Arctic Opens this year, are expected to make it to the semi-finals based on rankings and their current form, as they need to win only two of the group matches to do so.

The other Malaysian pair in the men’s doubles are Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik. The world No 6 have drawn a tough group and will take on China’s He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu, who are below them in the BWF rankings but have been playing well in recent tournaments.

Their next two matches in the group stage are against Indonesian pairs Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto (world No 4) and Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza (world No 11).

Malaysian women’s doubles shuttlers Pearly Tan-M Thinaah, who have shown dogged determination this year to move up to world No 6, will play world No 4 Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida tomorrow.

The Malaysians are expected to face an uphill battle against Nami-Chiharu who have beaten them 10 times in their 11 encounters so far.

However, they have an advantage in the following match on Thursday against India’s world No 13 Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, whom they have beaten in six of the seven meetings.

However, a tough time awaits the Malaysian duo in their final group match against China’s world top pair Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning on Friday. Pearly-Thinaah have only defeated them twice in their seven meetings.

Singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is expected to have a tough time in the championships as he has drawn a tough group. The world No 8 kicks off his campaign against Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen tomorrow.

World No 9 Tien Chen and Zii Jia have played each other 10 times so far, with each winning on five occasions.

However, Zii Jia’s next two matches will prove to be a true test as he will be up against Denmark’s world No 2 Anders Antonsen and China’s world No 6 Li Shi Feng, who has been playing well recently.

In the mixed doubles event where a podium finish is expected, both the Malaysian pairs are placed higher in the world ranking list than their rivals in the group.

In the opener, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai will play against recent giant-slayers and compatriots Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.

World No 10 Soon Huat-Shevon and world No 8 Tang Jie-Ee Wei have Indonesia’s Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle (world No 13) and Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (world No 21) in their group to contend with.

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