MOHAMED Hafiz Hashim’s title defence of the All England badminton championships men’s singles crown will be put to the test as early as the second round where he is drawn to meet teammate and world championships silver medallist Wong Choong Hann. While that may assure Malaysia of at least a player in the third round, it was scant consolation for the national shuttlers as the draw was anything but kind to the other Malaysians. Hafiz or Choong Hann, in fact, should get past Denmark’s Anders Boesen in the third round but face a tricky match against either China’s Bao Chunlai or Singapore’s Indonesian shuttler Ronald Susilo in the quarter-finals. A win will provide either Malaysian with a semi-final match against top seed and world number one Lin Dan of China or the unpredictable Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia. If anything, the good news seems to be that Choong Hann was separated from his bogeymen - Xia Xuanze and Chen Hong (both China). Roslin Hashim, hoping to do good in the All-England, looks to have a relatively easy path to the last eight. However, Roslin will have to dispatch Thailand’s Boonsak Polsana or Denmark’s Kenneth Jonassen in the third round first. If Roslin progresses, his quarter-final opponent could be in the form of China’s Chen Hong or another former world number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark. But it looks to be an early exit for Lee Tsuen Seng as he is drawn to meet second seed Lee Hyun Il of South Korea in the second round. Should Tsuen Seng prevail, he will most probably take on Chen Yu of China in the next round and either Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) or world champion Xia in the last eight. In the men’s doubles, there was further bad news as Chew Choon Eng-Chan Chong Ming were drawn to meet Indonesia’s Tri Kusharyanto-Sigit Budiarto in the first round. A win against the Indonesians will probably pit the Malaysians against Thailand’s S. Prapakamol-P. Ngernsrisuk in the second round. But before they can think of the semi-finals, Chew-Chan will have to beat fourth seeds Jans Eriksen-Martin Lungaard (Denmark) and sixth seeds Sang Yang-Zheng Bo in the quarter-finals. Malaysia’s top pair of Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah were given a bye in the first round but face the prospect of meeting top seeds Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen in the quarter-finals. Sea Games women’s singles champion Wong Mew Choo, should she get past three matches in the qualifying round, will take on Agnese Allegrini of Italy. However, Mew Choo will have to beat her arch nemesis Silvia Antarini of Indonesia in the first round of the qualifying round. In the doubles, the pair of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty face a tough task as they have to take on top seeds Yang Wei-Zhang Jiewen.
