http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/12/22/sports/7665631&sec=sports China enter top singles players for M’sian Open By LIM TEIK HUAT PETALING JAYA: Badminton fans are in for a treat if China fulfil a promise to sent their top shuttlers for the Malaysian Open at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Jan 18-23. Yesterday, China submitted the entries of all their top singles players, including Olympic and Asian Games champion Lin Dan, for the opening Super Series event of the new season. Also down to compete in Bukit Jalil are world No. 4 Chen Long, reigning world champion Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai. World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei benefited from the absence of the Chinese players last season. He defeated Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the final to capture his home Open title for a sixth time. A successful title run next month will take Chong Wei a step closer to his goal to beat the late Wong Peng Soon’s record of eight Malaysian Open titles. The only notable shuttlers missing from the entry list are the Danes, who have opted to go for the much more lucrative Korea Open from Jan 25-30. The Korean Open is the richest event on the 2011 calendar, offering a total of US$1.2mil in prize money. World No. 3 Peter-Gade Christensen and the current world No. 1 men’s pair of Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen are not among the entries for the Malaysian Open. With eight out of the top 10 singles shuttlers indicating their intention to compete, it is bad news for the national back-up and junior shuttlers as none of them made the cut. Besides Chong Wei, only seasoned campaigners Mohd Hafiz Hashim and Wong Choong Hann are assured of places in the main draw. It is also bad reflection on the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) when the likes of Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, Tan Chun Seang, Chan Kwong Beng, Liew Daren and Chong Wei Feng did not even command a place in the qualifying tournament. They were listed as reserves and they will only get to play in the US$400,000 event if there are a spate of withdrawals. Kwong Beng, who was ill and failed to make an impact in the Perak Open last week, is resigned to not playing in the Malaysian Open. “We have low world rankings and we have to accept that we are not good to play in the Super Series. I can only hope to get selected to play in GP Gold tournaments to give me chances to improve on my rankings,” said Kwong Beng, who is now ranked at No. 100. In the women’s singles, Wong Mew Choo will be only Malaysian in the main draw unless Lydia Cheah comes through from the qualifying tournament. For the men’s doubles, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong stand a better chance to retain their title, thanks to the absence of two of their biggest rivals – China’s Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun and South Korea’s Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung. But it will still not be easy for them because fast-rising Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong are in the fray. Kien Keat-Boon Heong have failed to beat the Koreans this year. Also in the fray are Indonesians Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan, who dethroned the top Malaysian pair in the final of the Guangzhou Asian Games last month.
Just curious, why those elite back-up players did not qualify for the qualifying rounds? I thought the home country has got some advantages to list their local players, no? It's quite demoralized for these players NOT getting to play at their home soil... tak BOLEH
OK noted. But I noticed many CHN young players playing in CHN SS... not sure about their rankings though... anyway, let's hope BAM will do something about it... BOLEH
It is because not so many top players come to the China Open this year. LCW also skipped the 2010 China Open...
Even those that qualified (MD) were not sent. Perhaps it is also good, if we look on the bright side, these pairs don't really stand a chance in SS tournaments with the big guns floating around, they are not good enough yet.. Still don't understand Fairuz/OSH and Zakry/HTH's inclusion.
May be that (being grounded) serve them as a punishment for being poor in performance... Let's hope it (grounded) does good for the youngsters
And the senior pairs continue to waste taxpayer's money... young pairs doing great to save $$ (although in MAS I wonder if they really save $$?)
It's home ground, no need fly here there. For Msia Open, the BJSS juniors are there. Notice Nelson Heg/Teo EY's name? Plus some juniors?
I guess the focus for MHC/TWK, CPS/LKW and GWS/TKS are in GP Gold tournaments. We might see one of them in Korea but more likely all of them will be in Germany.
Yes, they going the overseas ones. Not a big deal to me they dont play in Msia SS, as 3 of them still playing XD.
IMHO, it's a big deal for not being able to field (in their own department) at their home turf... it's a big blow to one's pride and confidence, if you ask me still BOLEH?
Isn't the heading rather misleading? Where is the 'cocktail talks' part in this? I am sure our friend Loh might not be too pleased.
lolx... Pls do NOT bring those controversies here... lolx... We are trying to have a "cocktail" talk in badminton only... so pls "Do Not Quote Out of Context"... haha....
Hopefully we have a title in Germany if all the top guns don't turn up. Chai Biao/Zhang Nan might beat them though. I hope to see them in SF at least...
