Axelsen confirms entry for Malaysian Masters
PETALING JAYA: World champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark has confirmed his participation for the Perodua Malaysian Masters at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
The Malaysian Masters, from Jan 16-21, is a Grade Two Level Four tournament under the revised Badminton World Federation (BWF) tournament calendar.
Barring any upset, the top-seeded 23-year-old Dane is expected to take on second seed and world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei in the final.
The other big names are China’s Lin Dan and Chen Long, South Korea’s Son Wanho and Lee Hyun-il, Kuala Lumpur SEA Games champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia and Japan’s Kento Momota.
Former world No. 2 Momota, who was banned a year for gambling in 2015, has regained his place in Japan’s national team and will be the dark horse in the tournament.
Other Malaysians listed in the men’s singles competition are Lee Zii Jia, Zulfadli Zulkiffli, Chong Wei Feng, Lim Chi Wing, Soong Joo Ven and Liew Daren.
The women’s cast is equally impressive with the world’s top four players – Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, India’s P.V. Sindhu and Spain’s Carolina Marin.
The drawcards in the other events are world No. 2 Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark (men’s doubles); world No. 1 Chen QingchenJia Yifan of China (women’s doubles) and world No. 4 Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping of China (mixed doubles).