Hong Kong: After his agonizing three-game loss to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler in the second round of China Open last Thursday, the world number two Chen Long is aiming to bounce back from the disappointment to kick off his bid for the Hong Kong Open title which will be held from Nov 18-23 at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
It would also be interesting to see whether Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth who came from nowhere to beat two times Olympic champion Lin Dan for the China Open title on Sunday could maintain his momentum by winning a back to back Superseries title at Hong Kong. Srikanth however will face a stiff challenge in the first round against seventh seed and French Open champion Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei.
Saina Nehwal who surged to world number three following her win over Akane Yamaguchi in last Sunday’s China Open women’s singles title, will start her campaign in Hong Kong Open against American Jamie Subandhi, a player ranked 49 places below her.
Defending Hong Kong Open women’s singles champion Wang Yihan of China will play Iris Wang of the United States in the opener; while world number two and top seed Wang Shixian faces Japan’s Eriko Hirose in the first round.
Representatives of the host country are Wei Nan and Hu Yun in the men’s singles and Yip Pui Yin in the women’s singles.
