Chinese players face tough draw at Badminton Asia Championships

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The Badminton Asia Championships will begin on Tuesday at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province. China's Lin Dan is aiming for his fifth singles title of the tournament while compatriot Chen Long may challenge world No.1 Kento Momota from Japan.

China has two other players, Shi Yuqi and Lu Guangzu, in the men's singles. All of them are in different sections of the draw.

Chen Long of China in action on Day 6 of the Badminton Malaysia Open at the Axiata Arena, April 7, 2019. /VCG Photo

Lu is in quarter one with two strong opponents, No.7 seed Tommy Sugiarto from Indonesia and No.1 seed Momota. Chen, the No.4 seed, is in quarter two and may meet Srikanth Kidambi, the No.5 seed from India, in the third round. If nothing goes wrong, Chen and Momota will meet in the semifinals.

No.2 seed Shi is in quarter four, the same as No.6 seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia. Lin is in quarter three and before he can think about the fifth trophy, "Super Dan" must be ready for No.3 seed Chou Tien-chen from Chinese Taipei.

Chen Yufei of China celebrates after winning a point on Day 5 of the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships at Arena Birmingham, March 10, 2019. /VCG Photo

Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, Han Yue and Cai Yanyan will participate in women's singles for China. Though the defending champion, world No.1 Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei, won't attend the event, the Chinese girls' path to the championship will not be easy.

In quarter one, Chen should not meet much of a challenge following the withdrawal of No.6 seed Ratchanok Intanon from Thailand. By contrast, Han in quarter two will first meet Saina Nehwal, the No.7 seeded player of India. If she manages to win and make the quarterfinals, there is a good chance that she will meet No.3 seed Akane Yamaguchi from Japan.

He Bingjiao of China competes on Day 3 of the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships at Arena Birmingham, March 8, 2019. /VCG Photo

Cai in quarter three has a tough draw because she will not only meet South Korea's top player, No.8 seed Sung Ji-hyun, in the preliminary round, but also Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, the No.4 seeded player from Indonesia. By contrast, quarter four is simpler because the quarterfinals will probably be between China's He Bingjiao (No.5 seed) and Japan's Nozomi Okuhara (No.2 seed).

(Top image: Lin Dan of China in action on Day 6 of the Badminton Malaysia Open at the Axiata Arena, April 7, 2019. /VCG Photo)