KUALA LUMPUR: In a twist of events, world No. 10 Lee Zii Jia's hopes of securing his second consecutive Thailand Open title have been boosted by the eleventh-hour withdrawal of world No. 4 Li Shi Feng.
Shi Feng, the third seed and recent Thomas Cup winner, would have been a tough nut to crack for Zii Jia in the quarter-finals.
However, due to the new draw management regulations which came into force this week, Zii Jia may now need to overcome two other Chinese opponents to reach the semi-finals.
Zii Jia, who was initially drawn against Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen, will face world No. 33 Lei Lan Xi in the opening round on Wednesday.
"It (in Zii Jia's case) says a third seed who withdraws before the end of the team managers' meeting shall be replaced by anyone seeded fifth to eighth in the same quarter," explained the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a statement.
Now, Zii Jia will fancy his chances against Lan Xi, a fringe player in the Chinese national squad.
Zii Jia played against Lan Xi only once at the Asia Mixed Team Championships last year and won the encounter.
If he advances, Zii Jia will play Denmark's Magnus Johannesen or South Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin.
This is seen as a more favorable path, as he was originally slated to take on Japan's Koki Watanabe.
Now, a possible quarter-final clash between Zii Jia and Lu Guang Zu is on the cards after the latter was promoted as well.
Lu Guang Zu, the world No. 19 and ninth seed, also a member of China's Thomas Cup-winning team, was reassigned to take over Zii Jia's place due to
the new ruling.
Although Zii Jia still leads the head-to-head record 4-2, he will be eager to exact revenge on Guang Zu, who knocked him out in the Malaysia Open first round in January.
The other two top contenders in the same bottom half, Japan's world No. 5 Kodai Naraoka and Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen, remain unchanged.
In the men's doubles, Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri have benefitted from the new draw ruling, with their path now seemingly clearer than before.
Hon Jian-Haikal will now face the Grimley brothers, Matthew and Christopher, from Scotland in the first round instead of South Korea's Kim Gi Jung-Kim Sa Rang.
A win could see them pitted against Thailand's Pharanyu Kaosamaang-Worrapol Thongsanga.
In the earlier draw, they could have faced second seed Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana of Indonesia in the second round.