VietNamNet Bridge – Top player Nguyen Tien Minh will kick off a new season in Kuala Lumpur at the Proton Malaysia Open Badminton Super Series 2009, beginning on January 6.

Nguyen Tien Minh.

Saniru will not be a difficult opponent for Viet Nam’s first ever badminton player to compete at the Olympic Games, according to Minh’s coaches.

His toughest obstacle will come in the second round when he meets the world No 1, Lee Chong Wei.

Lee grabbed the title at the Super Series Masters Finals at the Likas Indoor Stadium in Kota Kinabalu last month. He will play Indonesian Andre Kurniawan Tedjono in the first round.

Minh is not expected to beat him, but it is hoped that he can win a set. He won sets against former world No 1, Lin Dan of China, at the Yonex-Sunrise Badminton Asia Championship in April.

Lee’s confidence is peaking and this will only help him in his next clash with Indonesia’s Simon Santoso, the tournament’s No 8 seed.

Indonesians Andre Kurniawan Tedjono and Simon Saantoso should not pose much of a problem for Chong Wei, especially in front of his home crowd.

Reaching the last four could may see him face a familiar rival, Peter-Gade Christensen of Denmark.

Malaysian veteran Wong Choong Hann has drawn top Indonesian player Sony Dwi Kuncoro as his first-round opponent. He also drew Indonesia’s former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat and South Korean Park Sung-hwan.

In the women’s singles, Vietnamese female player Le Ngoc Nguyen Nhung will mark her return to the international tournament after months of inaction.

Beijing Olympian Nhung will play against host player Julia Pei Xian Wong in the first round. She may find it tough to make a strong start this year. She goes up against the world No 8 eight seed Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in her second round.

The men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are in with a good chance to win back-to-back titles at the Open in Putra Stadium.

The women’s doubles team Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty will battle it out to do the same.

The duo Koo-Tan and Chin-Wong won the Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu last week.

They are the top seeds for the first time in the Malaysian Open, but they have tough opponents in China’s former world No 1 Zhang Jiewen-Yang Wei who are former Olympic and world champions. Chin-Wong and Koo-tan will need to fire from all cylinders to beat the vastly more experienced pair.

If the manage to upstage the fifth-seeded Chinese pair, they are likely to clash with Indonesian third seeds Vita Marissa and Lilyana Natsir.

Koo-Tan and Chin-wong are also slated to meet South Korean second seeds Lee Yong-dae-Jung and Jae-sung for the second consecutive time if they make it to the quarter-finals.

Koo-Tan and Chin-wong are fifth seeded and will take on fellow Malaysians Goh Wei Shem and Lin Woon Fui or Mohd Razif Latif and Chan Peng Soon on their path to the next match.

Fourth seeds Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Mohd Zakry Latif have a tough first-round match against Indonesians Alvent Yulianto and Hendra Gunawan.

(Source: bam.org.my/VNS)