The 2023 Badminton Asia Championships is scheduled to be held from 25 to 30 April in Dubai. This tournament is hosted by the United Arab Emirates Badminton Federation. This international tournament will be played at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall in Dubai. There are 32 players (or pairings) in each main draw with 28 already placed and four coming from round-robin qualifiers taking place on the opening day (Tuesday). Defending champions Lee Zii Jia and Wang Zhiyi will look to defend their titles in their respective categories.
In men’s singles, the first round starts on Wednesday with the Malaysian Zii Jia beginning his crown defense against Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus. The 25-year-old Malaysian shuttler is still seeking his first title of 2023 having bowed out in the semi-finals of both the All England and last month’s Swiss Open.
Jonatan Christie of Indonesia is the top seed in the tournament with his compatriot Anthony Ginting at two. Reigning champion Zii Jia is the third seed while the highest-seeded Japanese Naraoka Kodai in the draw is at four. The pick of the first-round matches sees Christie face China’s in-form world no.10 Shi Yuqi. All England Open champion Li Shifeng ranked 11 in the world will kick off his campaign against Korea’s Jeon Hyeok-jin.
Another fascinating first-round tie sees 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew taking on Indian young shuttler Lakshya Sen. Another Indian shuttler Srikanth Kidambi will start off with a winnable clash against Bahrain’s Adnan Ebrahim but could face fourth-seeded Kodai Naraoka in the second round. Unseeded Nishimoto Kenta of Japan, who made an early exit at the Orleans Masters, will take on a winner from the qualifiers in his opening round.
In women’s singles, reigning champion Wang Zhiyi will meet a qualifier in the opening round. Japanese top seed and last year’s beaten finalist Yamaguchi Akane will lock horns with young Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod. It would be a tough test for the 21-year-old Indian to rally past Yamaguchi and reach the second round. The second seed An Se-young will play against Goh Jin Wei in her opening round.
Another top-class player in the draw is Olympic champion Chen Yufei who is always a threat and can upset any player. The Chinese player defeated Yamaguchi at the All England before bowing out to Se-young in the final. Former title winners Tai Tzu-Ying and Ratchanok Intanon are also in the draw and can give a tough fight to their opponents.
