As New year started, Badminton season is coming up. First BWF world tour 500 event of 2020 season, Malaysia masters 2020 is going to start at upcoming 7th January. Here, we give preview of men’s singles category in this event.
No doubt, World ranked 1, Japanese giant Kento Momota is clear favorite to win title of men,s singles category in Malaysia masters 2020 event. In BWF latest ranking, Kento Momota is well ahead by 31370 points as compared to 2nd placed Chou Tien Chen. In last year, Kento Momota won record 11 title. So, he would like to maintain his glorious run in 2020 season .
Kento momota will face experienced Parupalli Kashyap in 1st round match. Parupalli Kashyap is not an easy opponent to start with the campaign if we see his current form and give Kento Momota tough challenge. But a win for Parupalli Kashyap will defeat be a huge upset.
Kento Momota will face winner between Prannoy H. S. and Kanta Tsuneyama in 2nd round match. Star of Indian badminton, Prannoy H.S is well known as upset king. But Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama is also quality opponent. Probably we will see a tricky encounter between Prannoy H. S. and Kanta Tsuneyama in 1st round.
8th seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting will start his campaign against Sitthikom Thammasin in 1st round match. If he overcome this hurdle, he will face winner between badminton legend Lin Dan and Jan O Jorgensen in 2nd round match.
Badminton legend Lin Dan possibly passed his prime time. Now, he is in his own shadow of his glorious days. Lin Dan will face another experienced player ,former world ranked 2, Jan O Jorgensen in 1st round match.
The 3rd seed Anders Antonsen also gets decent draws of men’s singles category. Anders Antonsen will face Malaysian Lee Zii Jia in 1st round match. If he wins this battle ,he would face 7th seed Chinese star Shi Yu Qi. 7th seed Chinese star Shi recovered from injury, it will be another good battle to watch out.
In bottom half of the draws, Chou Tien chen will face Kidambi Srikanth, who is struggling off late. This event is very important for Kidambi as he would be looking for some crucial points, which would play a big role to qualify for Tokyo Olympics. No doubt that he has quality but and lacking consistency in last few months due to injury layoff. So from Indian perspective it will be a good game to watch out.
Winner between Chou Tien Chen and Kidambi srikanth will face Ng Ka Long Angus in 2nd round match. Ng Ka Long Angus will face a qualifier to reach 2nd round. Highest ranked Indian in BWF ranking list in men’s singles category, Sai Pranneeth B got decent draw. He will face Rasmus Gemke in 1st round match. If Sai he edge past Rasmus Gemke hurdle, he would face winner of Asian games 2018 edition, 6th seed Jonatan Christie to reach quarterfinal.
The 6th seed Jonatan Christie will start his campaign against a qualifier to reach 2nd round. Former world ranked 1, Viktor Axelsen would be another player to watch out. Viktor Axelsen will start his campaign as 3rd seed and will face experienced Tommy Sugiarto in 1st round match. If Viktor Axelsen wins then he will face another potential star Kento Nishimoto to reach quarterfinal.
Kento Nishimoto will face a qualifier to reach 2nd round. Current Olympic champion, 4th seed Chen long will face former world ranked 1, Son Wan Ho in 1st round match. The match between Chen long and Son Wan Ho is going to be interesting one. Both players have enough experience and having never say die attitude.
In qualification stage, three Indians will fight it out for main draw. Teen sensation Lakshya sen along with Subhanker Dey and Saurabh Verma will look to book their place in main draw. Lashya Sen will face former world ranked 8, Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in 1st round qualification match. If lakshya sen overcame Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus hurdle, he will face winner between Khosit Phetpradab and Heo Kwang Hee to reach main draws.
As we are now in Olympic year, we will see everyone fighting it out to improve their Olympic rankings. No doubt, badminton fans is waiting to see the battle. From the Indian point of view there are eight shuttlers in top fifty ranking and will look to raise the bar.
