China eyes glory in Thailand

(BEIJING, June 23) -- The Chinese are sending their best men and women to the SCG Thailand Grand Prix Gold 2008 to compete with their potential opponents in Beijing. This final badminton open ahead of the Beijing Olympics will tip off on June 24 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The top-seeded men's singles player, world No. 1 Lin Dan from China, who is coming back from a month off after the Thomas and Uber Cup 2008, will be the only world top ten player in the tournament. Only the second-seeded world No. 14 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and third-seeded world No. 16 Joachim Persson of Denmark stand a chance to challenge his authority.

In men's doubles, China's top two pairs -- world No. 3 Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, and world No. 8 Guo Zhendong and Xie Zhongbo -- will also appear in this tournament. They are expected to enjoy an easy time this tournament as the only world top ten pairs there.

The women's singles tournament will be more interesting, as world No.1 Xie Xingfang and No. 2 Lu Lan of China have both arrived in Bangkok, ready to challenge world No. 6 Wang Chen and world No. 9 Zhou Mi of Hong Kong, who will likely finish closer than their world rankings suggest.

It will be the same story in women's doubles, as the world's top two pairs, Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen and Du Jing and Yu Yang of China, will compete with world No. 3 Chien Yu Chin and Cheng Wen Hsing of Chinese Taipei in exciting encounters.

Finally, in mixed doubles, China's world No. 3 He Hanbin and Yu Yang and world No. 5 Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen are set to dominate the course, facing a possible challenge only from local favorites Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam, who are seeded third.

The first match will be a women's singles qualification, starting at 9 a.m., local time, between Kewalin Akarakulchai of the host country and Yui Nakahara of Japan on June 24.