Chong Wei withdraws from China Open

World number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia had to withdraw from the Victor China Open Superseries Premier, which is about to start in Shanghai. The Malaysian had been bothered by an old foot injury during practise and had hinted that he may have to cancel some of the events he had planned to participate in. The managers’ meeting on Monday night in Shanghai confirmed that he would not play – his name was replaced in the main draw by Gao Huan in top seed’s position in the draw.

In the women’s singles, China Masters winner Liu Xin withdrew.  She was to take on World Champion Ratchanok Intanon for one of the highlights of the day on Wednesday. But the young Thai won’t enjoy any easy first round as Liu was replaced by the always dangerous Chen Xiaojia.  Chen was the top seed the first time Ratchanok won the World Junior title and the Chinese shuttler won their only two encounters, at the 2009 Asian Juniors and the 2011 Indonesia Grand Prix Gold, where Ratchanok was the defending champion.  Chen has not played since injuring herself in last year’s Hong Kong Open, however.

The changes may shorten the qualification matches, which will kick off in Yuanshen Stadium on Tuesday at 10AM local time.

Click here for the complete draws