Kuala Lumpur: With seed player designations based on last week’s BWF world rankings, the World No. 13 Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia and World No. 22 Ng Tze Yong found themselves unseeded in the 2023 BWF World Championships draw that was published Thursday.
Fresh from his impressive semi-final run at the Australian Open, Lee will square off against Indonesia’s World No. 5 Jonatan Christie in the opening round. The two have previously clashed seven times, with Lee securing three victories and Christie four. However, the tables turned at their most recent encounter during the 2022 Denmark Open quarter-finals, where Lee triumphed over Christie 21-16, 18-21, 21-18.
“Advancing to the semi-finals in Australia had boosted my confidence, but there is still a long way to go. This is a process and we must be patient,” said Lee in the video below.
(video source: Sin Chew)
For Ng Tze Yong, he is slated to face China’s World No. 25 Zhao Junpeng in the first round. Although his world ranking is lower than Ng, Zhao is a formidable opponent as he also won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships that was held in Tokyo. This encounter would be Ng and Zhao’s first career head-to-head meeting.
In men’s doubles, the reigning World champions Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, earned a free passage to the second round for their title defense mission after receiving a first-round bye. They should be able to get past the second round and could potentially meet the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalists from Taiwan, Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin in the quarter-finals.
Expressing his anticipation for the challenge, Soh told Malaysia media:
“We have to prepare as thoroughly as possible. Aaron and I are committed to boosting our confidence with each match, especially considering the importance of the World Championship.”
Another Malaysian men’s doubles pair, the World No. 8 Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin, also received a bye in the first round. However, the World No. 25 Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun are scheduled to meet the French pair Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar in the first round.
As for the women’s singles, Goh Jin Wei will kick off against Hungary’s Vivien Sandorhazi, and Kisona Selvaduray will cross paths with Pai Yu Po from Taiwan.
In the mixed doubles, the tenth-seeded pair Shevon Jemie Lai/Goh Soon Huat and teammates Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei both received a bye in the first round. However, Tan Kian Meng/Lai Pei Jing need to take on World No. 85 Hussein Zayan Shaheed/Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of Maldives in the first round.
Finally, Malaysia’s women’s doubles pairs, comprising Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, Vivian Hoo/Lim Chiew Sien, and Anna Ching Yik Cheong/Teoh Mei Xing, were qualified for the 2023 World Championships.
