Johor: For all his conquering feats, World No 1 Lin Dan has yet to win the Asian Badminton Championship (ABC) singles crown but he will get the chance to put things right. The 25-year-old Lin Dan, the reigning world champion and undisputedly the best player in the world today, is part of the all-conquering Chinese team to the five-day Asian Badminton Championship which starts here at the MPJB Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.
Together with the World No 3 and 4 Bao Cun Lai and Chen Jin, respectively, Lin Dan will spearhead the formidable Chinese challenge in the championship, which is offering a total prize money of US$125,000.
But for Lin Dan, there is more than just the money at stake. The ABC crown is not in his collection of titles. The closest he got to was in the 2001 championship in Manila where he finished runner-up to Xia Xuanze, the former world champion who beat Malaysia's Wong Choon Hann to the crown. And that was his first and last time in the ABC meet until now.
"The ABC meet is important to me and I love playing in Malaysia. I have always looked forward to playing in the country and in January I didn't come to the Malaysia Open. I told myself, this time I must come to Malaysia," said Lin Dan.
Naturally, he is the No 1 seed and the draw done Monday has put him on an easy path at least into the semi-finals where team mate Chen Jin, the recent All England champion and the No 4 seed lies in wait before a possible showdown with Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, the No 2 seed in the final.
Lin Dan plays Indonesian Andreas Adityawarman in the opening round on Wednesday and then there is the possibility of a repeat of his clash with the Korean Lee Hyun Il, the No 8 seed, in the quarter-finals which will revoke memories of the ugly clash between the two in the final of the South Korean Open.
With Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, the defending men's singles champion, pulling out of the tournament, citing a back injury for doing so, the tournament has been robbed of a crowd puller.
At least among the Indonesians and the neutrals, China's top four women players, Xie Xingfang, Zhang Ning, Zhu Lin and Lu Lan, have also cried off from the tournament despite having their names submitted earlier.
But there is the Malaysian No 1, Chong Wei, the 2006 champion, who has always been a crowd favourite from the very moment the ABC meet was held at the 7,000-capacity MBJB Indoor stadium two years ago.
Chong Wei will play Thailand's Tanongsak Saensoomboonsuk in the opening round with Thailand's Boonsak Polsana, the man he beat for the 2006 crown, a possible opponent in the third round and then of course the No 3 seed Bao Cunlai in the semis.
"It's a tough draw for Chong Wei. Much tougher than what Lin Dan has been presented with. But I expect Chong Wei to do well here in front of the Johor fans who have been very supportive of him in the past," said chief coach Yap Kim Hock.
Malaysia's Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah, the men's doubles defending champion, are the No 1 seed with South Korea's Junj Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, seeded at No 2.
Koo Kim Keat and Tan Boon Heong are at No 3 with Indonesia's No 2 pair Alven Yulianto and Luluk Hadiyanto at No 4.
And with the top Chinese women staying away, Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo has been elevated to No 2 with the 2006 champion Wang Chen of Hong Kong at No 1.
"I would have preferred the Chinese to be at full strength. That will provide Mew Choo a tougher contest because I need to see how she can cope, now that she is training under Misbun (Sidek)," added Yap. - Bernama
