Thais have task cut out in Malaysia

Despite the withdrawal of Chinese world No 1 Lin Dan, Thai ace Boonsak Ponsana's chance of winning the trophy look slim after having been grouped with several top players, including top seed Lee Chong-wei of Malaysia and defending champion Peter Gade of Denmark.

Should the world No 12, Boonsak, beat high-profile Simon Santoso of Indonesia, the Thai will possibly run into his Indonesian arch-rival Taufik Hidayat.

The Thai just recorded his maiden victory over the Indonesian in the recently concluded SEA Games held in Nakhon Ratchisma. Boonsak's biggest achievement last year was winning the   Singapore Open title, where he beat Lin Dan. However, his form slipped after that.

In the mixed doubles, his compatriots Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam, facing qualifiers in the first round,

look set to meet world No 4 Flandy Limpele and

Vita Marissa of Indonesia in

the quarter-finals.  The Thai pairing, whose world ranking is 8th, have lost all their previous encounters to the Indonesians.

Sudket and his partner Phattapol Ngernsrisuk take on Shuichi Sakamoto and Shintaro Ikeda of Japan in the men's doubles first round, with world No 3 Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun of China standing in their way to the quarter-finals.

In the women's doubles, Duang-anong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchai-kul face sixth-seeded Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota of Japan. The other Thai players will have to take part in the qualifiers, which take place in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Badminton World Federation has announced equal prize money for both men and women for the second year of the Super Series.

The Nation