India’s K. Srikanth is the top seed in the men’s singles while two-time champion Datuk Lee Chong Wei is seeded fifth in this year’s Badminton Asia Championships to be held in Wuhan, China from April 24-29.
Korean veteran Son Won-ho is the second seed – ahead of defending champion Chen Long of China. China’s newly crowned All-England champion Shi Yuqi seeded fourth while Chinese legend Lin Dan – two-time winner of the Asian title (2014, 2015) is the sixth seed.
Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long complete the seedings at number seven and eight respectively.
Chong Wei is currently in Gold Coast, Australia for the Commonwealth Games. The former world number one is Malaysia’s bet for the gold in the men’s singles in Gold Coast and Malaysia’s trump card for the mixed team gold as Malaysia target a three-gold haul.
The 35-year-old Chong Wei won the Asian title twice. He first won the title in 2006 and repeated the feat in 2016. Last year was beaten by Lin Dan in the semi-finals 21-13, 21-15.
Current world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei is the defending champion and top seed in the women’s singles while last year’s runners-up Akane Yamaguchi of Japan is seeded second. India’s Rio Olympics silver medallist P.V. Sindhu is seeded third.
Thailand’s former world champion and winner of the Asian title in 2015 is the fourth seed with Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara the number five seed. China’s Chen Yufei (sixth), Korea’s Sung Ji-hyun who won the title in 2016 (seventh) and China’s He Bingjiao (eighth) complete the seedings.
Badminton Asia chief operating officer Kenny Goh said the Badminton World Federation ranking list on March 1 was used for players eligibility while the BWF seedings on March 2 was used for seedings. The draw for the Asian Championships will be held on April 3 (Tuesday).
“There maybe some late withdrawals from the Asian Championships due to the tight international schedule with some of the Asian stars also representing in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast,” said Kenny Goh.
“At the same time the Asian Championships is also a good test for teams to prepare for their Thomas Cup and Uber Cup teams for the Finals in Bangkok in May (20-27). Most of the teams are also preparing for the Asian Games in Indonesia in August.”
Malaysia’s Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong are seeded eighth in the men’s doubles. Chinese pairs Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen and Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan are the top two seeds in the men’s doubles while Japan’s Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda are seeded third followed by Chinese Taipei pairs Chen Hung ling-Wang Chi-lin (fourth seeds) and Lee The-huei-Lee Yang (fifth).
In the women’s doubles Japan’s Olympic champions Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi, who won the title in 2016 and last year are seeded second behind China’s Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan. Japanese pairs also occupy the next two places with Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota seeded third and Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto fourth. Indonesia’s Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu are seeded fifth.
In the mixed doubles Indonesia’s Olympic champions Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir get the top billing in the mixed doubles. Malaysia’s hopes Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing are seeded sixth and seventh respectively. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
THE TOP SEEDS
MEN (Singles)
1. K. Srikanth (Ind)
2. Son Wan-ho (Kor)
3. Chen Long (Chn)
4. Shi Yuqi (Chn)
5. Lee Chong Wei (Mas)
6. Lin Dan (Chn)
7. Chou Tien-chen (Tpe)
8. Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg)
WOMEN (Singles)
1. Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe)
2. Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn)
3. P.V. Sindhu (Ind)
4. Ratchanok Intanon (Tha)
5. Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn)
6. Chen Yufei (Chn)
7. Sung Ji-hyun (Kor)
8. He Bingjiao (Chn)
MEN’S DOUBLES
1. Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn)
2. Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan (Chn)
3. Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn)
4. Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi Lin (Tpe)
5. Lee The-huei-Lee Yang (Tpe)
6. Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn)
7. Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina)
8. Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas)
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
1. Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn)
2. Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn)
3. Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn)
4. Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn)
5. Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rohayu (Ina)
6. Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan (Kor)
7. Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha)
8. Du Yue-Li Yinhui (Chn)
MIXED DOUBLES
1. Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina)
2. Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn)
3. Tang Chun-man-Tse Ying-suet (Hkg)
4. Seung Jae-soo-Kim Ha-na (Kor)
5. Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn)
6. Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas)
7. Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas)
8. Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha)
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