China aims high in Thailand Open

(BEIJING, June 24) -- The last major badminton event before the Beijing Olympic Games, the SCG Thailand Grand Prix Gold 2008, will take place from June 25 - 29, 2008, and will be a provide a much-needed warm-up for the Olympic-bound shuttlers.

In the men's singles, world No.1 Lin Dan, the hero of the Thomas Cup for China, will definitely be the focus of all eyes.

He will play in the upper half of the draw and looks to have a very good chance of advancing into the finals. The other half will witness a much more fierce competition as the big guns, Boon Ponsana of Thailand, Jan Jorgensen of Denmark and Muhammad Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia, will compete for a spot in the finals.

In the women's singles, the top two players in World, Xie Xingfang and Lu Lan, both of China, will aim to win the title. But the road to the crown will not be easy with Hong Kong duo, Zhou Mi and Wang Chen, and Yao Jie from Holland also in the hunt.

In the men's doubles, Olympic-bound Chinese pair Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, seeded No 1 in the tournament, will compete in a different half of the draw to their teammates No 2 seeds, Guo Zhendong and Xie Zhongbo.

In the women's doubles, the top two seeded pairs are also from China. Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen will compete in the upper half of the draw, while Du Jing and Yuyang aim to grasp another spot in the finals in the lower half.

In the mixed doubles, two Chinese pairs are also very likely to reach the finals. He Hanbin and Yu Yang and compatriots Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen are ranked the top two.