CHINA MAY NOT ENJOY FAVOURABLE SEEDINGS AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
With the 2010 World Championships due in Paris from 23-29 August, there may be worrying thoughts about how Chinese players will perform. The concern would be whether they will yet again dominate the series as they have been doing in the past, primarily in the Singles and the ladies events.
This is due to China’s absence from a number of Super Series and World Grand Prix events in recent times. This has affected its players’ position in world ranking in nearly all disciplines.
The Seeding and Draw for badminton’s premier event will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 9th August and it will be based on the Badminton World Federation ranking of 5th August.
This would effectively make the Macau Open of 27th July as the final event for ranking points accumulation before the draw. With none of its top players participating in Macau, China may have a fight on its hands when the Seeding and Draw are finally announced.
In Men Singles, Lee Chong Wei and Peter Gade are currently ranked 1st and 2nd with Chen Jin and Lin Dan in 3rd and 4th position. With both the Malaysian and the Dane in action in Macau, the position will not change. Lin Dan will be the defending champion in Paris.
In Women Singles, Saina Nehwal has made huge inroads into Chinese domination of that event. With three successive wins – India, Singapore and Indonesia – the 20-year old Indian has reached unprecedented heights, to lodge herself as the 2nd ranked player. This is a first for a non-Chinese in many years. Of course, an Indian player has never been ranked among the top ten in the world.
With only Lu Lan, ranked 9th by BWF participating in Macau, the list for the 9th August seeding is not except to change. Chinese players Wang Yihan and Wang Xin at 1st & 3rd with Saina sandwiched in-between while Wang Shixian is ranked 4th and Tine Baun (the former Rasmussen) is 5th. Lu Lan won the title last year.
In Men Doubles, defending champions Cai Yun & Fu Haipeng will not be in Paris. China will have to pin its hopes on Guo Zhengdong & Chen Yu, who will enter the fray as the 4th ranked. Their absence from the Macau Open later this month will not help their cause. They will have Malaysia’s Koo Kien Kiat & Tan Boon Heong, Hendra Setiawan & Markis Kido and the Mathias Boe & Carsten Mogensen to worry about.