While organizers may have been more or less expecting Taufik Hidayat to return to the North American side of the Pacific for a third time in five years – after the 2005 Worlds in Anaheim and a trip last year that included the U.S. Open as well as an exhibition event in Richmond – the addition of Zhu came as a surprise. The 25-year-old shuttler won the Badminton Asia Championships in Korea last April but followed this up with four consecutive early-round losses to younger team-mates and she has not competed internationally since the Japan Open last fall.
Online registration for the event is still only in the beginning stages and it remains to be seen what kind of competition Zhu and Taufik will face for the singles titles in Canada.
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