2015 Thaihot China Open, a BWF World Super Series Premier tournament, kicked off in Southeast China's Fuzhou city on Tuesday, featuring a strong line-up of world class shuttlers.
Dozens of players will fight for the main draw positions in the qualifications on Tuesday. Clash of the titans will be performed in the coming 5 days.
Five-time world champion and dual Olympic gold medalist Lin Dan, as the third seed, is expected to meet his long-time rival, former world number one, now unseeded Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei who was facing a doping ban and missed the last year's China Open. They might have the chance to make the 35th encounter in the semifinal if they keep advancing.
But both Lin and Lee will have to beat some big name players before they meet each other in the semifinals. Lin will be challenged by number 5 seed, K. Srikanth from India who won his first title here in Fuzhou last year. While Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei and world No. 2 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark will be the most tough opponents for Lee.
The world No. 1 Chen Long, also the top seed at the China Open, has been tipped as the No. 1 contender for the title for his good status quo. He won the title for the 4th time at Denmark Open last month. His biggest opponent on the way to final will be Danish Viktor Axelsen who beat Lin Dan twice this season.
In the women's singles, defending champion Saina Nehwal from India tops the list. Carolina Marin from Spain, the second seed, is mostly likely to fight with Wang Shixian of China in quarter-finals.
Besides the women's singles, Chinese players will also try to win back the men's doubles title they lost to South Korean combination Lee yong Dae and yoo yeon Seong. Altogether 7 Chinese men's doubles pairs including Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan will challenge the South Korean pair who won two straight titles at Fuzhou in 2013 and 2014.
With a total prize money of 700,000 U.S. dollars, China Open is the penultimate stop for the top players seeking to qualify for the next month's Dubai Word Super Series Finals.
