KUALA LUMPUR: As fate would have it, Lee Zii Jia is set to battle Hong Kong's Angus Ng for the third time in 17 days, this time at the Indonesia Open, which starts tomorrow.
The eleventh-hour withdrawal of top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark has triggered the movement of some players in the men's singles draw, resulting in Zii Jia being pitted against Angus once again.
It will be Zii Jia and Angus's fourth duel of the year and their 10th overall when they face off at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
World No. 9 Zii Jia will be looking to keep his 100% record this year against Angus, with his last win being in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters. Zii Jia also came out on top in the final of the Thailand Open and the second round of the Malaysia Open in January.
From Zii Jia's perspective, the change in the draw can be seen as a massive boost considering he would no longer have to face a potentially tricky second-round encounter with a rejuvenated Li Shi Feng, who finished runner-up to compatriot Shi Yu Qi at the Singapore Open last Sunday.
Zii Jia was scheduled to meet Christo Popov of France in the earlier draw. His second-round opponent will most likely be another Chinese star, Weng Hong Yang. Other strong contenders in the upper half include reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, Indonesia's Anthony Ginting, and Denmark's Anders Antonsen.
The news of Zii Jia's return to competition will come as a relief for Malaysian fans after the 26-year-old opted to skip last week's Singapore Open due to a hamstring issue.
Another Malaysian shuttler, Leong Jun Hao, also benefited from the draw amendment as he was promoted from the reserve list. However, he faces a tough opening hurdle against home favourite Jonatan Christie. Jun Hao will be looking to pull off another major upset after knocking out Anthony Ginting in the first round in Singapore last week.
In the women's singles, Goh Jin Wei will face Malaysia Masters champion Wang Zhi Yi of China after the latter was moved to fill in for the absence of Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying.
Meanwhile, Lai Pei Jing is set to play this week with partner Tan Kian Meng despite announcing that she had fallen victim to scammers who defrauded her of her entire life savings. Their names remain in the draw after the managers' meeting yesterday evening.