BAM confirms Chong Wei's entry for Badminton Asia Championships
Former world number one and Malaysia's top men's singles shuttler will be in Wuhan, China - adding spice to the Badminton Asia Championships which will also see the participation of China's defending champion Chen Long and last year's runners-up Lin Dan.
The trio have been the crowd pullers in any badminton tournament in the world and Badminton Asia are delighted that the three big names in the shuttle will head to Wuhan for the Asian championships from April 24-29.
Earlier there were doubts on Chong Wei's participation because of the tight international schedule. This year is also the year of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok and the Asian Games in Indonesia.
The 35-year-old Chong Wei is currently in Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games which begin on Thursday. The Thomas Cup and Uber Finals will be held from May 20-27 while the Asiad is in August.
Malaysia is banking on Chong Wei for a golden haul in Gold Coast and is a top favourite for the singles crown apart from leading the team in the mixed team in their chase for at least a three-gold medal haul or even better.
A delighted Kenny Goh, the Chief Operating Officer of Badminton Asia said: "We have received the official list from BAM and Chong Wei's participation is confirmed. We are delighted with the news on Chong Wei's confirmation. Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long have a strong following and have their own band of supporters in China.
"Chong Wei is certainly a crowd puller in China. The badminton crowd in China love Chong Wei and this has been a trend in China even when Lin Dan and Chen Long are playing in the same tournament."
For the record India's K. Srikanth is the top seed this year with Korean veteran Son Won-ho seeded second and Chen Long third with newly crowned All-England champion Shi Yuqi seeded fourth followed by Chong Wei (fifth) and Lin Dan seeded sixth. Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong's Angus Ng Ka Long are seeded seven and eight respectively.
The 35-year-old Chong Wei won the Asian title twice - in 2006 and 2016. Last year he was beaten by Lin Dan in the semi-finals 21-13, 21-15.
THE TOP SEEDS
MEN (Singles)
1. K. Srikanth (Ind)
2. Son Wan-ho (Kor)
3. Chen Long (Chn)
4. Shi Yuqi (Chn)
5. Lee Chong Wei (Mas)
6. Lin Dan (Chn)
7. Chou Tien-chen (Tpe)
8. Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg)
WOMEN (Singles)
1. Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe)
2. Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn)
3. P.V. Sindhu (Ind)
4. Ratchanok Intanon (Tha)
5. Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn)
6. Chen Yufei (Chn)
7. Sung Ji-hyun (Kor)
8. He Bingjiao (Chn)
MEN'S DOUBLES
1. Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn)
2. Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan (Chn)
3. Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn)
4. Chen Hung-ling-Wang Chi Lin (Tpe)
5. Lee The-huei-Lee Yang (Tpe)
6. Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn)
7. Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina)
8. Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Mas)
WOMEN'S DOUBLES
1. Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn)
2. Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn)
3. Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn)
4. Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn)
5. Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rohayu (Ina)
6. Lee So-hee-Shin Seung-chan (Kor)
7. Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai (Tha)
8. Du Yue-Li Yinhui (Chn)
MIXED DOUBLES
1. Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina)
2. Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn)
3. Tang Chun-man-Tse Ying-suet (Hkg)
4. Seung Jae-soo-Kim Ha-na (Kor)
5. Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn)
6. Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (Mas)
7. Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas)
8. Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha)
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