KUALA LUMPUR: World No 2 Lee Zii Jia is set for a tricky opener against in-form Kodai Naraoka of Japan at the Super 1000 Malaysia Open next month.
Naraoka, 21, has been in imperious form this season, recently reaching a career high world No 10 on the BWF rankings.
Both Zii Jia and Naraoka have yet to face each other, but the Japanese up-and-coming star has performed better than the Malaysian this season, reaching four finals and five semi-finals.
Zii Jia, who turned professional this year, recently dropped his coach, Indra Wijaya, and is currently moving alone with his team.
Apart from winning the Asian Championships crown in May and the Super 500 Thailand Open the same month, Zii Jia has struggled with consistency.
In his last five tournaments, the 24-year-old only made on final (Denmark Open), with the rest only as far as the second round.
The Kedah-born also did not make the cut for the season-ending World Tour Finals, in which Naraoka made the semi-finals before losing narrowly to eventual champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Barring any upsets, Zii Jia, who is seeded second, will likely face world No 29 Ng Tze Yong, who will play Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in the first round.
Other notable names in the bottom half of the draw include world No 3 Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen of India, and three China shuttlers, Lu Guang Zu, Zhao Jun Peng and Li Shi Feng, who could spoil the party for everyone.
Axelsen, Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie, Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan, China's Shi Yuqi, and two-time former world champion, Kento Momota of Japan are all in the top half of the draw.
The Malaysia Open on Jan 10-15 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil offers a total of US$1.25 million (RM5.6 million) in prize money.
Former World No 1 Lee Chong Wei was the last Malaysian men's singles to win the prestigious title back in 2018.
The retired shuttler also holds the record for winning the most titles, with 12 under his belt.