# Lin Dan, Jorgensen, Viktor, Carolina Marin among the pullouts as Chong Wei joins list
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By Rizal Abdullah
Datuk Lee Chong Wei, last week’s winner of the Indonesian Open is among the several big names who have withdrawn from the Australian Open Superseries in Sydney.
 The Malaysian ace who is expected to regain his world No 1 status when the latest Badminton World Federation ranking is released on Thursday, is not taking any risk due to a strained thigh muscle he sustained during the Indonesian Open in Jakarta.
 Other big names who have pulled out from the Australian Open – which is the last Superseries before the Rio Olympics in August – include China’s world No 3 Lin Dan, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen (No 4), Jan O Jorgensen (No 5), Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto (No 8) and India’s Ajay Jayaram.
World No 1 Carolina Marin of Spain will also not be seen in action in the women’s singles in Sydney and has returned home to prepare for the Rio Olympics apart from seeking treatment for her injuries.
Marin, who was the top seed, was beaten in the semi-finals in the Indonesian Open by China’s Wang Yihan.
With Chong Wei’s withdrawal Malaysia’s singles hopes lie with national champion Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and privateer Zulfadli Zulkifli, a former Asian world junior champion – ranked world No 33 and 38 respectively.
