KUALA LUMPUR: The six national doubles pairs competing in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals which begin on Wednesday (Dec 7) in Bangkok, Thailand have been handed tricky tasks following the draw that was conducted yesterday.
The draw pits national professional doubles pair and Australian Open runners-up Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in Group A with world number one Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan.
To make matters worse, the world number four Malaysians will also have to deal with world number three Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia and South Koreans Choi Sol Gyu-Kim Won Ho, who are ranked 15th in the world.
Malaysia’s world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, meanwhile, have been drawn in Group B, where they will be up against world number six Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia, world number five Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark and world number 11 Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi of China.
In women’s doubles, French Open champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have been drawn in Group B with two China pairs - world number one Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu - and Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
National women’s doubles professional pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien have been drawn in Group A with two Thai pairs - Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard and Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai - and South Korea’s Jeong Na Eun-Kim Hye Jeong.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles representatives, professional pairs Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing have also been handed a tough draw.
Soon Huat-Shevon are in Group A with Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (China), Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (France) and Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari (Indonesia).
Kian Meng-Pei Jing, meanwhile, find themselves in Group B with Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping (China), Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai and Supak Jomkoh-Supissara Paewsampran (both Thailand).
Malaysia do not have any singles representatives, including men’s professional ace Lee Zii Jia who finished the season in ninth place with 57,680 points.
A total of 24 qualifying tournaments were held worldwide, with only the top-eight players and pairs qualifying for the World Tour Finals, which will be held at the Nimibutr Arena in Bangkok from Dec 7-11. - Bernama
