I just realized that this tournament has the highest prize money among the Grand Prix events, in fact almost at par with some Super Series tournament.
I though so too except that his seniors WZM, THW and perhaps Qiao Bin with whom he trains and spars regularly are familiar with his game and being more experienced from having played many more tournaments may have the edge over him. But, I believe, one day Xue Song will catch up with them and learn how to deal with all sorts of opponents in tournament conditions with or without coaches. I look forward to that day, may he break out soon and win his first SS title just like his female counterpart Sun Yu did. Actually, Qiao Bin is another one I'm watching closely. If he beats WZM in R2, that's a sign he is on to bigger things, esp after his stunning victory over Chen Long in the CBSL lately albeit in a very tight encounter under the 11-point scoring system.
Finally. The draw for the tournament is out. For those who are interested, yoo can log in to the bwf tournament website to,check on the schedule. The tournament will start on Wednesday morning at 9.00 am. Four courts will be used for the tournament. The last match of the day will start at 3.25 pm. However I think the matches will end earlier due to the lack of participation of players. Some of the players will received a bye in the first round as there are not enough players. There will be no qualifying rounds as well.
