KUALA LUMPUR: National shuttler Lee Chong Wei is expected to reach at least the quarter-finals of the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC), going by the seedings released yesterday. The 22-year-old Chong Wei has been seeded fifth for the ABC starting on Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium (KLBA). The top four seeds are world number three Lee Hyun-il of South Korea, Xia Xuanze of China, Shon Seung-mo of South Korea and Chen Yu of China. CHONG WEI: A place in the last eight of the Asian Badminton Championships will cement his place in the Athens Olympics' badminton tournament. Indonesia's top singles player Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who was not included in the initial entry list of the Indonesian team, is surprisingly back to defend his Asian crown. The world number 13th is seeded sixth. A place in the last eight will cement Chong Wei's place in the Athens Olympics' badminton tournament from Aug 13-21. Malaysia's Mohd Roslin Hashim is the seventh seed. World number four Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah are the top seeds in the men's doubles but will be hard-pressed to win the title. They will be strongly challenged by second seeds Sang Yang-Zheng Bo of China, South Korea's Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung and the Indonesians Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto and Flandi Limepe-Eng Hian. THE SEEDINGS (Selected) Men's singles: 1. Lee Hyun-il (Kor), 2. Xia Xuanze (Chn), 3. Shon Seung-mo (Kor), 4. Chen Yu (Chn), 5. Lee Chong Wei (Mas) Men's doubles: 1. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah (Mas), 2. Sang Yang-Zheng Bo (Chn), 3. Lee Dong-soo-Yoo Yong-sung (Kor), 4. Luluk hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto (Ina), 5. Flandi Limpele-Eng Hian (Ina) Women's singles: 1. Wang Chen (Hkg), 2. Jun Jae-youn (Kor), 3. Kanako Yonekura (Jpn), 4. Kaori Mori (Jpn), 5. Miho Tanaka (Jpn). Women's doubles: 1. Wei Yili-Zhao Tingting (Chn), 2. Chikako Nakayama-Keiko Yoshitomi (Jpn), 3. Shizuka Yamamoto-Seiko Yamada (Jpn), 4. Jo Novita-Lita Nurlita (Ina). Mixed doubles: 1. Kim Dong-moon-Ra Kyung-min (Kor), 2. Chen Qiqiu-Zhao Tingting (Chn), 3. Sudket Prapakamol-Saralee Thungthongkam (Tha), 4. Nova Widianto-Vita Marissa (Ina), 5. Tsai Chia-hsin-Cheng Wen-hsing (Tpe). TheStar
