KUALA LUMPUR: National No. 1 Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong will have their work cut out for them at next year's Super 1000 Malaysia Open.
Although they are expected to clear the first round.
Based on the draw on Tuesday, former All England champion Zii Jia will open his campaign against China's Lu Guang Zu, while world No. 15 Tze Yong plays Japan's Koki Watanabe.
With two wins from two matches this year and a 4-1 head-to-head, Zii Jia is expected to overcome Guang Zu.
Tze Yong has only faced Watanabe once at the Japan Open in July, with the latter snatching a 21-17, 21-14 win in the second round.
However, with home advantage, Tze Yong too is expected to advance.
Barring any upsets, Zii Jia, who dropped out of the top 10 this week, will likely face Indonesia's world No. 4 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the next round, while Tze Yong is slated to take on Denmark's Anders Antonsen.
The Dane, who is on a comeback trail after an injury-plagued season, was temporarily training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara before heading to the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou earlier this month.
Given that Antonsen had a short sparring stint with the Malaysian men's singles shuttlers, it could go either way should he face Tze Yong for a spot in the Malaysia Open quarter-finals.
The same can't be said for Zii Jia, who has lost five times to Ginting and only won once in the last five years.
Whether it's avoiding harsh criticism or fighting for bragging rights, both Zii Jia and Tze Yong know that they must start the year strong to set a positive tone for the rest of the season.
More importantly, both players need to score as many points as possible to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in July.
National men's singles coach Hendrawan hopes Tze Yong will perform well in the first four tournaments of the year to strategically plan ahead for the Olympics.
Meanwhile, also in the top half of the Malaysia Open draw is reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, whom Zii Jia might face in the semi-finals.
In the bottom half of the draw, alongside Tze Yong, is world No. 2 Kodai Naraoka of Japan, reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, and China's Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng.
The Malaysia Open, which offers a total prize pool of US$1.3 million (RM6.1 million) is the first World Tour Event next season.
It will be held at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil on Jan 9-14.