KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Zii Jia should have a smooth path to the men's singles quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open which begins on Jan 7.
The world No. 6 is drawn against Taiwan's Su Li Yang in the first round of the Super 1000 tournament.
Zii Jia is not expected to have any problem overcoming world No.33 Li Yang as he leads their head-to-head record 2-0.
Their most recent encounter was at the Kumamoto Masters in Japan, where Zii Jia prevailed 19-21, 21-8, 21-16.
He is likely to play either Japan's world No. 27 Yushi Tanaka or China's 22nd-ranked Lei Lan Xi in the second round.
Zii Jia outplayed Tanaka in their only encounter, at the Arctic Open in October, whereas the Malaysian beat Lan Xi in both their earlier encounters.
However, Zii Jia's journey will become more difficult in the quarter-finals as China's world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi is expected to defeat Japan's Kenta Nishimoto and either Leong Jun Hao or compatriot Lu Guang Zu to book his last-eight spot.
If Zii Jia beats Yu Qi, he could face Denmark's double Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals.
Axelsen is bent on reclaiming his Malaysia Open title after losing in the semi-finals of this year's event.
Denmark's world No. 2 Anders Antonsen will open his title defence against Taiwan's world No. 24 Wang Tzu Wei.
Zii Jia suffered an ankle injury at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, China, over two weeks ago, and it is not known if he will be in top shape heading into the Malaysia Open.
Zii Jia suffered early exits in the past four editions of the Malaysia Open, losing in the first round in 2019, 2023 and 2024, and in 2022 he only reached the second round.
In the men's doubles, the national No. 1 and No. 2 pairs are at opposite ends of the draw, meaning there is hope for an all-Malaysian final.
World No. 3 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will open their campaign against Denmark's world No. 26 Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard.
Former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will begin their quest against the United States' Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith.
World No. 14 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will face Japan's 19th-ranked Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura.
Compatriots Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King face a tough task against the new South Korean pairing of Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae.
Professional pair Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong will face China's world No. 40 Xie Hao Nan-Zhen Wei Han.
World No. 6 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will start their women's doubles campaign against the new Indonesian pairing of Lanny Tria Mayasari-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.
World No. 73 Teoh Mei Xing-Go Pei Kee will take on 35th-ranked Kokona Ishikawa-Mio Konegawa of Japan.
Young pair Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting, ranked 125th in the world, will face world No. 22 Sung Shuo Yun-Yu Chien Hui from Taiwan.
World No. 43 Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien will take on Taiwan's world No. 62 Cheng Yu Pei-Sun Yu Hsing.
Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, who have risen to fifth in the world, will start their Malaysia Open campaign against Taiwan's world No. 40 Wu Hsuan Yi-Yang Chu Yun.
World No. 20 Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin will take on world No. 51 Ming Che Lu-Hung En Tzu from Taiwan.
Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai will meet the new American pairing of Presley Smith-Jennie Gai.
World No. 43 Goh Jin Wei will take on India's 32nd-ranked Malvika Bansod in the women's opening round.