Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei will have former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat for company while Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong would have been buoyed by the relatively easier path to the semi-finals after the draw was conducted for the YONEX-SUNRISE BWF World Super Series Masters Finals 2009.
To be played in Johor Baru, Malaysia, the US$500,000 total prize money tournament begins on Wednesday at the Johor Baru Indoor Stadium.
Chong Wei, the World No 1 and top seed for the tournament, will also have China’s Bao Chunlai and Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Yu Hsin in Group A while Gade will have to be at his best as he will have compatriot Jan Jorgensen and former Asian champion Park Sung Hwan in Group B.
Rounding up Group B is Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.
Chong Wei, who is also the defending champion, opens his campaign against Hsieh while Taufik takes on Bao.
But it is Group B of the men’s doubles which made heads turn as Denmark’s No 2 seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen will have a tough time living up to expectations as Korea’s Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae will be out to stop them.
Adding to their woes is the experienced pair from England - Nathan Robertson and Anthony Clark. Alvent Yulianto-Hendra Aprida Gunawan are the fourth pair in Group B.
Koo-Tan play teammates Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Tazari as their opener while Jung-Lee play Robertson-Clark on Thursday.
The Masters Finals is for the top 8 available players/pairs in the Super Series rankings.
In the women’s singles, Saina Nehwal, the top seed in the absence of several Chinese players who opted out to focus on the East Asian Games, will play local favourite Wong Mew Choo in the first match of Group A on Wednesday.
Besides Saina and Mew Choo, the other players in Group A are Canada’s Charmaine Reid and Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertusuk. In Group B, the players are Salakjit Ponsana (Thailand), Juliane Schenk, Nicole Grether (both Germany) and Yao Jie (Netherlands).
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