Changzhou: The 2019 China Open kicks off in Changzhou on Tuesday with an absolute blockbuster bill of badminton.
China’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan will start against World No. 1 and reigning World Champion Kento Momota of Japan in a blockbuster first-rounder at Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The two have met four times, Lin only defeated Momota in the quarter-final of 2015 All England, but has gone down three times to Momota in 2018.
Based on their recent performance, Momota might have the better game. Lin would delight the crowd if he could defeat Momota in the first round.
Then add in to the mix, China’s Rio Olympic gold medalist Chen Long earned a good chance to exact revenge over Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia for his loss to Lee in the 2019 Indonesia Open second round.
Meanwhile, two badminton superstars – Olympic champion and three-time world champion Carolina Marin and 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen will also marked their return to competition after recovering from their respective injuries. For the record, Marin competed at last week’s Vietnam Open, but lost to Thailand’s Supanida Katethong 22-24, 20-22 in the first round.
India’s reigning women’s singles World champion PV Sindhu will look to reassert her supremacy when she opens against London Olympic Champion Li Xuerui of China on Wednesday.
