The Straits Times Defending champion, but still unseeded Injury and poor form see Hafiz competing as dark horse in All-England again By Peh Shing Huei IT WAS only a year ago when Muhammad Hafiz Hashim (right) was the man, the newly-crowned king of the world's oldest badminton tournament. But today, when the Malaysian steps onto the court at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena to begin his All-England defence, it will be without glory, without honour. For the champion, having almost totally disappeared from badminton's radar, is unseeded. It has been down, down, down for the Kelantan shuttler since his fairy-tale win - a rank outsider who became the first Malaysian in 37 years to win the All-England. With the exception of last September's Dutch Open, where he made the final, the 2002 Commonwealth Games champion has not come anywhere close to any silverware. He was not selected for Malaysia's South-east Asia Games team and has just returned after a five-month lay-off for a wrist injury. In another bitter pill for him and his country's aspirations, Hafiz, now ranked No 32, will have to play compatriot and world No 4 Wong Choong Hann in the second round. But his mentor Misbun Sidek, who is also the Malaysian national coach, told The Star: 'Hafiz wants to show the world that he is back on his feet again and wants to qualify for the Olympics. 'If he is ready, he should not be worried about playing anyone.' But Hafiz should be worried. Very worried. At last week's Swiss Open, he was dumped out in the first round by South Korea's world No 21 Park Tae Sang 11-15, 3-15 in under 45 minutes. His elder brother Roslin told The Star after Hafiz's trouncing: 'Hafiz did not show any sign of his wrist injury. 'But it was obvious that his game was rusty after the five-month break. I'm sure he will give a better account of himself at the All-England.' Not likely. In Birmingham, the competition will be more daunting than in Switzerland. While he should have no problems with Guatemala's Pedro Yang in the first round, Wong is a tough proposition. If he manages to get past his countryman, Denmark's world No 10 Anders Boesen awaits, followed by either China's Bao Chunlai or Singapore's Ronald Susilo in the quarter-finals. It looks bleak for the dashing Malaysian with a penchant for fast cars - immobilised to prevent one of China's five seeded stars driving away with his title. World No 1 Lin Dan will lead the charge as the top seed, followed by Chen Hong (third), Xia Xuanze (fifth), Bao (eighth) and Chen Yu (11).
