PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Lee Tsuen Seng's hopes of making his Olympic debut have been crushed. And one of two youngsters – Lee Chong Wei and Mohd Hafiz Hashim – will have to share Tsuen Seng's fate after the Korean and Japan Opens. The Korean Open begins on Wednesday in Choongju City followed by the Japan Open in Tokyo the following week. Tsuen Seng has suffered a drop in form in training and coach Misbun Sidek has dropped him from the two tournaments. That leaves Chong Wei and Hafiz in the race for Olympic berths. National number one Wong Choong Hann and veteran Mohd Roslin Hashim, who are now ranked fourth and 14th in the world, should be among the 16 who are assured of places in the Olympics when the qualification period ends on April 30. A country can be represented by a maximum of three players and Chong Wei is now ranked 16th while Hafiz is 11 rungs below. In the draw for the Korean Open released yesterday, Chong Wei has an easier path than Hafiz to the third round of the US$200,000 tournament. The 22-year-old Hafiz, who failed to defend his All-England crown recently, will play against South Korean Shon Seung-mo in the opening round. If he advances, he is tipped to meet Indonesian youngster Simon Santoso. He also has in his path All-England runner-up Peter Gade-Christensen of Denmark in the next round. The 22-year-old Chong Wei can breathe easy for the first two rounds against unheralded players. But he has a tough opponent in Denmark's Kenneth Jonassen in the third round. “I am looking forward to the Korean Open after missing the Swiss Open and All-England because of an ankle injury. I have dropped five rungs because I did not play in the two tournaments and I have to catch up. I still have a chance to qualify for the Olympics and I will go for it,” said Chong Wei, who defeated Jonassen in the second round of the Danish Open last year. Choong Hann is seeded fourth and Denmark's Anders Boesen will be the strongest rival in his path to the quarter-finals. If he clears the last eight, he is tipped to play against top seed Chen Hong of China. Yeoh Kay Bin has been drawn in the same quarter as Choong Hann and has in his path Singapore's Ronald Susilo in the second round. Roslin's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals will depend on whether he can get the better of Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia. World number one and All-England champion Lin Dan has skipped the Korean Open. The Malaysian doubles pairs, meanwhile, will have tough opening matches. All-England runners-up Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah will play against China's Cheng Rui-Chen Qiqiu while Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng will be up against Thailand's Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas.
