MALAYSIA GPG 2010 – Draws released

The draws for the 2010 Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Grand Prix Gold have been released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).  A gigantic men’s singles field will be topped off, like the Indonesia Open, by Lee Chong Wei and Taufik Hidayat but will see a multi-national field mixed in with legions of local talent.  For example, elder men’s singles statesman Wong Choong Hann will share one corner of the draw with top juniors Zulfadli Zulkifli and Loh Wei Sheng, while elsewhere Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin is set to trouble some seeded players and the tournament will also see the return to action of Malaysia Open quarter-finalist Chong Wei Feng.

Pi Hongyan and Zhou Mi are on the books as women’s singles top seeds, but Pi will have to be wary of two-time World Junior Champion Ratchanok Intanon, as the 15-year-old will be looking to mimic the success that Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying enjoyed on the other side of the Johor Strait.

It is fitting that the men’s doubles top seeds will be world #1 and #2 Koo/Tan and Kido/Setiawan as this competition is all about the Indonesians and Malaysians.  The same is almost true of women’s doubles, which may see the return of Wong/Chin but seeded second are Thailand’s Savitree/Vacharaporn and Macau’s Zhang/Zhang have to be considered a serious threat.

Gunawan/Marissa are top seeds in mixed, followed by several strong Indonesian pairs and the major competition is likely to come from Prapakamol/Thoungthongkam and Anugritayawon/Voravichitchaikul of Thailand.