Favourable draw for shuttlers

New Straits Times » SportBADMINTON: By K.M. Boopathy Feb 23:

CHINESE coach Li Mao , heading for his first tournament in charge of the national singles players, can look forward to a good outing in the German Open which starts in Mulheim on March 2.

Two of his charges, Lee Chong Wei and Wong Choong Hann, have received favourable draws. Chong Wei, seeded fourth, is in the easiest quarter of the draw and looks good for a semi-final berth.The three-time national champion opens his campaign against a qualifier but faces a tricky second round match against Lee Hyun Il of South Korea.However, Hyun Il has been out of action since the Athens Olympics last year due to a leg injury and with Li Mao at his side, Chong Wei is favoured to win the match.Li Mao was Hyun Il's coach between 2000 and 2004 and should give Chong Wei the right strategy to subdue Hyun Il.In the third round Chong Wei is expected to meet compatriot Sairul Amar Ayub, and assuming he progresses, will meet another Korean, Park Sung Hwan, in the quarter-finals.Chong Wei's major test will come if he makes it to the semi-finals, against second seed Chen Hong of China and this is where Li Mao's ability as a top class coach will be tested.Choong Hann also has an easy first round match against Arif Rasidi of Indonesia, is expected to meet Ukrain's Vladislav Druzchenko in the next round and face either compatriot Kuan Beng Hong or Anders Boesen of Denmark in the third. Choong Hann's quarter-final opponent is expected to be either third seed Bao Chunlai of China or Athens Olympics silver medallist Shon Seung of South Korea.Hafiz Hashim, who is coached by Misbun Sidek, faces a tough third round match against either Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana or Singapore's Ronal Susilo.Lee Tsuen Seng, also coached by Li Mao but undergoing a six-month probation with the national senior squad, should clear the first two rounds with relative ease but will have to bring out his best against title favourite Lin Dan of China in the third round.In the men's doubles, joint fifth seeds Choong Tan Fook-Chew Choon Eng can look forward to a quarter-final berth as they will meet Rupesh Kumar-Sanave Thomas of India in their opening match before coming up against Indonesian back-up pair Markhis Kido-Hendra Setiawan.In the last eight, Tan Fook-Choon Eng face a difficult battle against joint third seeds Sang Yang-Zheng Bo of China.National No 2 Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat have a bumpy road to the semi-finals. They should have no problem beating Germany's Kristoff Hopp-Ingo Kindervater in the first round and also have an edge against Danish pair Rasmus Andersen-Michael Lamp in the second round.To secure a semi-final berth they will have to beat new Korean pairing Lee Jae Jin-Jung Jae Sung. In the women's doubles, Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui are favoured to reach at least the quarter-finals. They meet Aki Akao-Tomomi Matsuda of Japan in the first round and, if things go accordingly, are expected to meet Denmark's Helle Nielsen-Pernille Harder next. Their quarter-final oponents are expected to be Du Jing-Yu Yang of China