MACAU OPEN 2010 – Draws out

The draws have been released for the 2010 Kumpoo Macau Open Grand Prix Gold, which will bring the world’s badminton stars back to Asia after the present two-week detour to Australia and North America’s Pacific coast.  Among the notable returnees are Korea’s Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyun Il.  Yong Dae will be playing in both mixed and men’s doubles, his first time in competition since a domestic tournament in April and his first international outing since the Swiss Open.  Lee and Jung Jae Sung will start the men’s doubles competition in the uncharacteristically low position of fourth seeds.

Meanwhile, former world #1 Lee Hyun Il is likely to breeze through qualifying and provide one of the earliest big matches of the tournament when he takes on current world #1 Lee Chong Wei.  Hong Kong’s Zhou Mi will be looking for redemption when she faces Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the first round.  Sung’s second-round win over Zhou at last year’s edition catapulted her into the public eye and she will be hoping to repeat that feat just a day before she turns 19.

China is again seriously under-strength although Lu Lan will be on hand as top seed.  She will start her campaign against 16-year-old Taiwan sensation Tai Tzu Ying, who was runner-up at last month’s Singapore Open Super Series event.  As if being drawn against Lu Lan weren’t bad enough, Tai must also start with her women’s doubles partner against home favourites and 2009 semi-finalists Zhang Dan / Zhang Zhibo.

China is also using Macau as a training ground for their delegates to the Singapore Youth Olympics, their duo of  Asian Junior champions Suo Di and Huang Yuxiang.  Suo is likely to get through qualifying to take on Japan’s Ai Goto in the first round while Huang will be hoping to make it as far as the second round to do battle with Indonesia’s Simon Santoso.

The complete draws can be downloaded from the BWF website HERE