Kuala Lumpur: The No. 8 seeds Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia will launch their bid for the YONEX Thailand Open title by facing former teammates, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong in the first round of the tournament that will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from Jan 12 to Jan 17, 2021.
Another Malaysian pair, World No. 15 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi could face World No. 5 Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe in the second round after the draws were revealed on Thursday.
In men’s singles, World No. 1 Kento Momota, who is aiming to win his first international title after surviving a fatal car crash that killed a driver in Kuala Lumpur around 5 a.m on Jan 13, 2020. He would open his 2021 campaign against Thai player Khosit Phetpradab before a potential clash with World No. 6 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the quarter-finals.
The women’s competition saw World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying heads the draw in the top half, with a first-round match locked in against Nitchaon Jindapol of Thailand. Tai could take part in a dream match as she aims for the Thailand Open title in Bangkok, with a projected semi-final battle against either No. 3 seed Nozomi Okuhara or No. 6 seed PV Sindhu.
Meanwhile, there there are three Malaysian mixed doubles pairs that were drawn in the same half as Hoo Pang Ron/Cheah Yee See set to meet No. 1 seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in the first round. Hoo/Cheah could face teammates Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie in the second round if they can pull off an upset against the No. 1 seeds Thai pair.
The fifth-seeded mixed doubles pair, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying will face Adnan Maulana/Mychelle Crhystine Bandaso of Indonesia in the first round and could set up a quarter-final match against No. 1 seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai.
