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| July 6, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1426 |
Malaysia Open throws up intriguing clash
KUALA LUMPUR, July 5: An intriguing first round clash between two old foes in the men’s singles will get the 120,000 dollar Malaysian Open off to a cracking start when it opens on Wednesday.
Malaysia’s Hafiz Hashim, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, faces world champion Xia Xuanze of China, now a lowly 18th after poor form and injuries robbed him of a chance to defend his world title in California next month.
Xia Xuanze, 27, the older of the two by five years, may have lost some of his edge but has fire in his belly following the International Badminton Federation’s decision not to award him a wildcard to defend his world crown, after failing to meet the qualifying mark.
China’s quota of three players will be taken up by world No. 1 Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai and Chen Hong.
So Xia Xuanze has something to prove and has been given the perfect platform to do so at the KLBA Stadium.
Hashim, the 2003 All-England Open champion, and Xia Xuanze have crossed swords on numerous occasions and while records favour the Chinese, the Malaysian is the form player.
All the World Championship-bound players are competing in Kuala Lumpur, as the four-star Malaysian Open is the final event prior to the world meet in Anaheim, California, which will be held August 15-21.
Valuable ranking points are up for grabs as the tournament offers the players a chance to upgrade their seedings and secure a better draw for the World Championships.
Lin Dan, who has won five of his last eight tournaments, will start as the tournament favourite to finally land the Malaysian Open title. The 20-year-old was a quarterfinalist last year.
Indonesia’s enigmatic Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, whose career has been characterised by wild swings in fortune, is starting to again show the form that once made him the best player in the world.
Still only 24, Taufik captured last week’s Singapore Open in grand style, claiming his first title since Olympic gold in Athens, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to carry on his fine form.
Hidayat has said he is now aiming for back-to-back wins with victory in Malaysia to raise his world ranking to as high as number four ahead of the world championships.
In the women’s draw, there is no need to look beyond the Chinese women to find the eventual champion.
Xia Xingfang, Zhang Ning and Zhou Mi are a class above the rest and have dominated the women’s game for more than a year.—AFP
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