NATIONAL singles coach Misbun Sidek has rated the Beijing Olympics men's singles field as the toughest since badminton was included in the 1992 edition in Barcelona.

Misbun said China's World No 1 Lin Dan has a slight edge over the other contenders due to the home-ground advantage.

Malaysia's World No 2 Lee Chong Wei is one of the contenders for gold.

The men's singles, according to Misbun, will be even more unpredictable if the results of the last four international events are anything to go by -- Park Sung Hwan of South Korea winning the Asian Championships in April, Chong Wei taking the Singapore Open, Sony Dwi Kuncoro triumphing at home in the Indonesia Open and Lin Dan winning the Thailand Open last week.

Besides them, Misbun also said Lee Hyun Il of South Korea, Denmark's Peter Gade Christensen and Kenneth Jonassen, defending champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and even Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana are all in with a chance although they have been absent from tournaments in the build-up to the Olympics.
Besides Lin Dan, China will also have World No 3 Bao Chunlai and World No 4 Chen Jin in a bid to regain the gold they last won through Ji Xinpeng in 2000 in Sydney.

"As far as the Olympics men's singles is concerned, this is going to be the toughest. The competition is of the highest quality as was seen in the Super Series events where there was little to separate them," said Misbun yesterday.

"The last four tournaments have been won by different players which shows all players are well prepared.

"Chong Wei has been maintaining his form and will be a medal contender but he will face stiff competition from the likes Taufik, Sony, Hyun Il and Sung Hwan apart from China's trio.

"Lin Dan is still the favourite as he is consistent and will have the home crowd behind him but this could also work against a player."

"Beijing is going to be like a sudden-death but we are preparing for every possibility," Misbun added.

Chong Wei is also aware of the early round threats from unseeded players like Hyun Il, Sung Hwan and Boonsak, who on their day are capable of beating the best.

"I hoping to win a medal and I will be doing everything possible to achieve it. I am wary of the early threats but I will stay focused.

"I will just keep it simple rather than think too much of the challenge ahead," said Chong Wei, who will be playing in his second Olympics after Athens where he lost to second seed Chen Hong of China in the last 16.