KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- All the top stars in the world are expected to feature in the US$200,000 (RM760,000) season opening Malaysian Open to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association stadium from Jan 16-21.
Reigning world champion and world number one Lin Dan from China heads the cast with a number of prolific Chinese players among the "Chinese Army" that includes Bao Chunlai, Chen Hong, Chen Jin and Chen Yu.
Also on the list are Indonesia's Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat, the in-form Danish star Peter Gade-Christensen and his fellow countryman Kenneth Jonassen, to provide the European challenge.
South Korean Lee Hyun-il who dashed Lee Chong Wei's hopes at the Doha Asian Games and Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana cap the star-studded line up.
Chong Wei, who will be defending his title after winning it for three consecutive years, will certainly look forward to a erase the disappointments of 2006 when he takes on the challengers from abroad.
The Malaysian Number One had a lean year after failing to get past the quarter-final stage at the World Championships in Madrid and the semi-finals of the Asian Games.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Kenny Goh said that the Malaysian Open, which is also the season opener for this year's Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series, also coincides with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the tournament that began in 1937.
"We are looking forward to Chong Wei winning the Malaysian Open title for the fourth consecutive time this year," he said when contacted by Bernama here Thursday.
Since the inception of the tournament only three players -- Wong Peng Soon, Rashid Sidek and Chong Wei -- have won the title for three consecutive years.
In fact, Peng Soon holds the record for winning it five consecutive times.
"Since the new BWF format will separate only the top two seeds in the 32-player draw, some of the first round matches are expected to be very exciting and could go down the wire," said Kenny.
There will be a total of 270 players from 28 countries for this Open.
The winner of the men's singles title stands to win US$16,000 (RM60,800) while the women's singles champion takes home US$13,800 (RM52,440)
By V. Sankara
-- BERNAMA