By Merliza Lim

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 — All eyes in the Singapore camp will be on Xing Aiying in the Singapore Open following the withdrawal of teammate Zhang Beiwen due to suspension. Xing begins her quest with a first-round tie against Holland’s Yao Jie, the sixth seed. Xing is also competing in the women’s doubles with Thng Ting Ting.

Xing said: “I’m really excited to be taking part in the Li Ning Singapore Open as this super series brings in the worlds’ best, and will definitely do my best against Yao Jie.”

Teammates Vanessa Neo and Hendri Kurniawan Saputra will take on South Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong and Kim Min Jung in the first round of the mixed doubles.

Vanessa said: “Min Jung is part of the Uber Cup champion team and I really hope to get all the moral support I can from our local fans.”

Vanessa will also partner Fu Mingtian to face China’s Luo Ying and Luo Yu in the women’s doubles.

Other Singaporeans in the main draw include Yao Lei and Shinta Mulia Sari, and Noriko Goh and Tan Wei Han (women’s doubles), as well as Yao and Chayut Triyachart (mixed doubles).

2002 men’s singles runner-up Ronald Susilo will compete in the men’s doubles qualifiers with brother-in-law Candra Wijaya. They will play Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Tung and Tran Duc Phong in the first round of the qualifiers.

Susilo said: “I really look forward to playing once again in the Singapore Open. Partnering Candra gives me more confidence, and we can look forward to an exciting match against the Vietnamese pair.”

Malaysian Lee Chong Wei, who is the top seed, starts as hot favourite to regain the men’s singles title he won in 2008. He is on the same half of the draw as Japan’s Kenichi Tago, the 8th seed, as well as Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh, who is seeded third.

Lee said: “I’ve always liked to play in the Singapore Open and of course, my aim is to be the title holder again. I won there before, and I hope I can do it again. I also fancy Singapore because I have some cousins there and I feel like I’m playing at home there.”

The other half of the draw features second seed Peter Gade of Denmark who triumphed here in 2006. He begins his campaign with a first-round match against Indonesia’s Kurniawan Tedjono Andre.

Standing in Peter Gade’s path in the same side of the draw are Thai Boonsak Ponsana, who is the fourth seed, and fellow Dane Jan O Jorgensen.

India’s Saina Nehwal, the women’s top seed, will start her campaign against Malaysian veteran Wong Mew Choo. Denmark’s All-England winner Tine Rasmussen, the second seed, plays India’s Aditi Mutatkar.

The stellar cast of shuttlers has resulted in increased interest in the US$200,000 Super Series tournament.

Singaporeans in Main Draw
Women’s Singles
Xing Aiying (SIN) vs Yao Jie [6] (NED)

Mixed Doubles
Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei (SIN) vs Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork (8) (ENG)
Neo Yu Yan Vanessa and Hendri Kurniawan Saputra (SIN) vs Yoo Yeon Seong and Kim Min Jung (KOR)

Women’s Doubles
Bte Latib Aisyah and Siew Fen Toh (SIN) vs Miyuki Maeda [1] and Satoko Suetsuna (JPN)
Jiayuan Chen and Juan Gu (SIN) vs Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa (IND)
Shinta Mulia Sari and Lei Yao (SIN) vs Laura Choinet [8] and Weny Rasidi (FRA)
Jing Qiong Mok and Shi Yan Samantha Neo (SIN) vs Nicole Grether (GER) and Charmaine Reid (CAN)
Mingtian Fu and Yu Yan Vanessa Neo (SIN) vs Ying Luo and Yu Luo (CHN)
Noriko Goh and Wei Han Tan (SIN) vs Pei Chen Hsieh and Pei Rong Wang (TPE)