KUALA LUMPUR: The Kumamoto Masters, which begins in Japan tomorrow, will be crucial for Lee Zii Jia in his hunt for a ticket to the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15.
The World No. 7 "lost" valuable points after withdrawing from the Denmark Open, a Super 750 event, last month due to an ankle injury and the Malaysian must regain his form fast to have a good run in Kumamoto.
The first round could be an all-Malaysian clash as Zii Jia is likely to play World No. 49 Justin Hoh if the latter clears the qualifying rounds.
Zii Jia is likely to face a tricky second round test against an inconsistent Weng Hong Yang of China who is yet to achieve his full potential on the world stage.
Hong Yang, the World No. 21, was once compared to two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, but the former never really managed to come anywhere near his legendary countryman's quality.
However, Hong Yang made a significant breakthrough by winning his first Super 1000 title at the China Open in September.
Zii Jia is tied 3-3 in head-to-head record with Hong Yang, setting up the stage for a close duel.
As long as Zii Jia has done enough to recover from the ankle injury and the endurance to go the distance, there is a possibility of him upstaging the inconsistent Hong Yang to make it to the last eight.
A possible quarter-final clash against Indonesian World No. 6 Jonatan Christie would give the Malaysian a genuine chance of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in August.
Zii Jia is currently No. 5 in the world tour rankings, but Korea Masters champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand is set to move above him when the list is updated tomorrow.
All the more reason for Zii Jia to aim for a top four finish in Kumamoto to secure his WTF ticket.
Two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark has signalled his intention by arriving early for the Kumamoto Masters last week.
He had also competed in the Bdmntn-XL Invitational, a mixed team event, in Jakarta from Oct 31-Nov 3 to prove that he has fully recovered from the illness that forced him to withdraw from the Denmark Open last month.
Axelsen, 30, begins his campaign against Wang Tzu Wei of Taiwan in the first round tomorrow.
Leong Jun Hao is the other Malaysian competing in the tournament where he faces a tough task against Paris Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen of India in the first round.