KUALA LUMPUR: Two times All England champion Datuk Lee Chong Wei received a favourable draw in his quest to capture his third All England Badminton championship title at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England from March 4-9.
According to the draw issued by Badminton World Federation (BWF), Chong Wei who is seeded number one is expected to meet defending champion Chen Long of China in the final.
In the draw, Chong Wei, the current world number one, is not expected to face much difficulty in getting pass Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in the first round.
His next opponent is expected to be compatriot Chong Wei Feng or Marc Zwiebler of Germany while Du Pengyu of China, seeded seventh in the championships is expected to face off in the quarter-finals.
However, Du Pengyu will face a strong challenge from Kento Momota of Japan, a young rising star, in his earlier round.
In the semi-finals, barring any upsets, Chong Wei is expected to face fourth seed Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark or fifth seed Kenichi Tago of Japan. For the record, Chong Wei won the All England title in 2010 and 2011.
As for Chen Long, he is not expected to face any problems in getting through the first and second rounds as he is drawn to meet unseeded players.
On paper, Chen Long could be meeting sixth seed Boonsak Poosana of Thailand in the quarter-finals and will likely face third seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the semi-finals. — Bernama