PETALING JAYA: Seniors Lee Zii Jia and Tan Wee Kiong will have to brace themselves against young Indonesian opponents as they bid to get their Macau Open campaigns off to a good start today.
Professional Zii Jia will face 21-year-old Prahdiska Bagas in the first round, and he needs a win to make up for the opening round defeat at last week's Australian Open in Sydney.
The 28-year-old Zii Jia was initially slated to face Australian Open semi-finalist Moh Zaki Ubaidillah but the 18-year-old withdrew, and that saw some players being promoted from the qualifying round.
Prahdiska is seeded seven and it's still not an easy feat for Zii Jia but the fans are hoping for the Malaysian to get back on his feet.
The former All England champion Zii Jia suffered a first-round exit at the Australian Open after coming through two qualifying matches.
He is currently ranked No. 64 in the world and is only able to compete in lower-tier tournaments. He needs to break into the world's top 32 to qualify for Super 750 tournaments and above.
Some of the other Malaysian men's singles players competing in the Macau Open are Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, Eogene Ewe, Justin Hoh and Cheam June Wei.
Aidil will take on top seed Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong, while Eogene and Justin will face Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan and Thailand's Kanthaphon Wangcharoen respectively. June Wei will face Pui Pang Fang of Macau.
The 37-year-old Wee Kiong and his partner Nur Azriyn Ayub, 32, are the top seeds in the tournament and will face Putra Erwiansyah-Bagas Maulana in the first round.
Wee Kiong said they would be treading in uncharted waters.
“We may be the top seeds but our opponents are a new pairing. We have not played against them,†said Wee Kiong.
Bagas, 27, is a seasoned campaigner but his younger partner Putra, 22, will add power in the partnership.
Most of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) pairs have skipped the Macau Open, leaving Wee Kiong-Azriyn and several other lower-ranked pairs to make their presence felt.
In the women's singles, Malaysia will be represented by Goh Jin Wei and S. Kisona.
