Top players embark on five-week stretch

As the last leg of the ‘regular season’ of the OSIM Super Series gets set to kick off in Hong Kong, the entry lists have also just been published for the Victor Korea Grand Prix Gold, to be held in Lee Yong Dae’s hometown of Hwasun early next month.  Though all bets are off in the Olympic qualifying season, a few names stand out in that these players have committed to playing the Hong Kong Open, China Open, Macau Open and now the Korea Grand Prix Gold, even though this last event happens on the eve of the OSIM Super Series Finals, to be held from December 14th to 18th in Liuzhou, China.  A few of these are also very likely to qualify for the Super Series Finals and attendance at this season-ending event has made compulsory by the BWF since the 2010 edition, held in January of this year.

Photo: Yves Lacroix for Badmintonphoto

Of course, SS Finals qualifiers are not yet known, but among those who are entered in the next four consecutive events are Sung Ji Hyun, Yoo Yeon Seong, and Ko Sung Hyun of Korea.  Sung is currently in the top 8 of the Super Series rankings, while Ko and Yoo, top seeds at the 2010, are one spot out as they prepare to defend their Hong Kong Open title this week.

Simon Santoso is playing the last three in a row and is currently the 8th qualifier but he is skipping the Hong Kong Open to play the SEA Games at home and this may well cost him a SS Finals berth, and he could even be passed by Korea’s own Shon Wan Ho, who is entered in all four events and is only two spots away from qualifying for the Finals.  Both of Indonesia’s two top women’s doubles pairs are in very similar situations.  Most other top contenders for Liuzhou are skipping Hwasun, though Chen Long is the only likely Liuzhou qualifier who is skipping Macau and coming to Korea instead.

Korea’s three top doubles pairs are getting a rest from Macau but will be back in action in Hwasun, though in the initial version of the lists, Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae appear to have been denied top seeding because of the use of an archaic spelling of Jung’s name, which has dredged up an old, duplicate BWF ID, relegating the pair to a notional ranking.  While this clerical issue will almost certainly be resolved before the actual seeding and draws are performed, it is Sung, Yoo, and Ko who may find themselves with the real hardship ahead of them, with five straight weeks of badminton competition at the absolute highest level.

Click here to download the entry lists for the Victor Korea Open Grand Prix Gold from the BWF website