TheStar PETALING JAYA: Malaysian number one Lee Chong Wei will get the chance to avenge his defeat by Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen in the Singapore Open final when he competes in the Copenhagen Masters invitational badminton championships from Dec 27-29. Chong Wei has been placed in Group B with Jonassen and China's reigning world champion Xia Xuanze. Wong Choong Hann is the second Malaysian singles player who has been invited to defend the Masters title and he is in Group A with Dane Peter-Gade Christensen and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat. The group winners will contest the final. Chong Wei has a score to settle with Jonassen. The Dane came back from a game down to deny Chong Wei the Singapore Open title last month. Chong Wei has been the most impressive Malaysian singles player this year and it was certainly no surprise that he has been invited to make his second appearance in the traditional season-ending tournament for the year. The 22-year-old achieved a breakthrough in the world badminton scene by bagging his first international title in the Malaysia Open. He went on to pick up his second title in the Taiwan Open last month and break into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time. The young pair of Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock will represent Malaysia in the men's doubles. But the odds are heavily stacked against them making the final. They are in Group B with reigning world champions Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark and Indonesia's Athens Olympics bronze medallists Flandy Limpele-Eng Hian. Denmark's world number one and All-England champions Jens Erikssen-Martin Lundgaard, China's Sang Yang-Zheng Bo and England's Simon Archer-Robert Blair are in Group A. National doubles head coach Yap Kim Hock said that he decided against sending Taiwan Open champions Koo Kien Keat-Chan Chong Ming even though they were the better bet to challenge for the title. “Kien Keat-Chong Ming had competed in many tournaments over the last three months and we already have a good knowledge of their standard,†he said. “I prefer to give the opportunity to Bin Shen-Soon Hock to fight with the best doubles pairs in the world.†n MEN'S SINGLES Group A: Peter-Gade Christensen (Den), Taufik Hidayat (Ina), Wong Choong Hann (Mas). Group B: Kenneth Jonassen (Den), Xia Xuanze (Chn), Lee Chong Wei (Mas). n MEN'S DOUBLES Group A: Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard (Den), Sang Yang-Zheng Bo (Chn), Simon Archer-Robert Blair (Eng). Group B: Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den), Flandy Limpele-Eng Hian (Ina), Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock (Ina). n MIXED DOUBLES Group A: Zhang Jun-Gao Ling (Chn) vs Jens Eriksen-Mette Scholdager (Den). Group B: Nathan Robertson-Gail Emms (Eng) vs Carsten Mogensen-Rikke Olsen (Den).
Actually, I wonder why Chong Wei was invited. He has the least claim to the invitation. KJ and PG are local Danes and highly ranked. Xia is the reigning world champion. Wong CH is the defending champion and should be invited to defend his crown. Taufik is the reigning Olympic champion. The sixth spot should go to Lin Dan, the current world number 1 and winner of the most titles in the current year. He would then be the person to beat in the tournament. Ron
