Wee Kiong-V Shem ready to face any pair

THE World Championships draw does not look easy on paper but national men’s doubles Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong could not have asked for anything better.

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists were placed in the top half of the draw along with top seeds Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China and fourth seeds Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda of Japan.

Wee Kiong-V Shem, playing in their second World Championships as a pair, received a first round bye and will face the winner of the match between India’s Manu Attri-B. Sumeeth Reddy and South Korea’s Chung Eui Seok-Kim Dukyung in the second round.

They are drawn to face JunhuiYuchen in the third round.

“If you want to have it easy even in the quarter-finals, then something is wrong because this is the world meet,” said Wee Kiong following the draw ceremony at Badminton World Federation (BWF) office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Compatriots Chooi Kah MingLow Juan Shen, however, face a daunting task as they are in the bottom half alongside second seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark, third seed Marcus Gideon Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia and sixth seeds Chai Biao-Hong Wei of China.

Kah Ming-Juan Shen will open their campaign against Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Bonkowsky and Matthew Fogarty of the United States.

The pair are drawn against BoeMogensen in the second round.

In the mixed doubles, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing, who received a first round bye, are seeded eighth and will likely face Indonesia’s Irfan Fadhilah-Weni Aggraini in the second round. Fabian Peter