Lee Chong Wei withdraws from New Zealand

Ratchanok Intanon is the only former world #1 still planning to attend next month’s New Zealand Open, as Lee Chong Wei’s withdrawal was made official yesterday.

Originally, Intanon was one of 3 former world #1 and 2 former world #2 shuttlers on the list for the Grand Prix Gold event.  Indonesian men’s doubles veterans Markis Kido and Hendra Aprida Gunawan withdrew last week but over the weekend, Lee Chong Wei (pictured) and former Olympic bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro also removed their names from the list.

Lee’s absence means that 2014 winner Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei will be the top seed in a Grand Prix event for the first time in his career.  In the entire remaining men’s singles field, only two shuttlers – H. S. Prannoy and Kashyap Parupalli of India – have Grand Prix Gold titles to their name, while Malaysia’s Liew Daren is the only Superseries winner.

Apart from Kido and Gunawan, the strength of the doubles fields remained largely intact.  Among the exciting pairs to watch for are two reigning World Junior Champion pairs.  Han Chengkai / Zhou Haodong will be present but not seeded in the men’s doubles, while He Jiting and Du Yue are seeded 7th, partly thanks to their win at last month’s Thailand Open.

The final entry lists from the BWF website can be downloaded here and the seeding lists are available here.

Photo: Yves Lacroix / Badmintonphoto