Kuala Lumpur: Indonesian men’s doubles legend Hendra Setiawan who clinched the Thailand Masters Grand Prix Gold men’s doubles title in Bangkok with Mohammad Ahsan last year, is looking to defend the men’s doubles title this year with a different partner – Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia.
After being rivals on court for more than a decade, Indonesian Olympic gold medalist Hendra Setiawan and Malaysian Tan Boon Heong made their debut at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships last month/ The Indonesian/Malaysian duo are aiming to do well in the first half of 2017, in order to qualify for the World Championship to be held at Glasgow, Scotland in August.
If the pair could beat the Malaysia Masters champions Berry Angriawan/Hardianto Hardianto in the second round, they are very likely to face No. 4 seeds Hoon Thien How/Teo Kok Siang of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has featured Chooi Kah Ming Chooi/Low Juan Shen in the men’s doubles category. Chooi/Low were seeded eighth and had drawn into the lower-half. If the seeds hold, Chooi/Low could face No. 2 seeds Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto or No. 6 seeds Huang Kaixiang/Wang Yilv of China in the semi-final.
In women’s singles category, No. 6 seed Soniia Cheah will spearhead Malaysia’s challenge together with Yao Rui Chen.
The Thailand Masters or a.k.a Princess Sirivannavari Thailand Masters, was named after Princess Sirivannavari who represented Thailand in badminton in 2005 at 23rd South East Asian Games in the Philippines that won a team gold. The tournament will be held from February 7, 2017 to February 12, 2017 and offers total prize money of USD $120,000.
