The clash between Lin Li and Baoyu at the Japanese badminton tournament is canceled; a new star in Chinese men’s singles returns after recovering from injury

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　　According to reports from Beijing time on August 30, the draw for the BWF Super Series Japan Open has been released. Key players in the men’s and women’s singles categories such as Lin Dan and Chen Long are absent from the competition, but Lee Chong Wei and Ma Lin will lead the men’s and women’s teams respectively. On the Chinese side, Tian Houwei and Sun Yu are leading the charge in an effort to make a breakthrough. Xue Song, the rising star in men’s singles who suffered an injury in the Indian Super Series earlier, has returned after recovering from that injury, and his performance is also worth looking forward to. 　　In the men’s singles category, Lin Dan and Chen Long, who have been participating in various events recently, withdrew from this tournament, resulting in the Lin-Chen match not taking place. World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, the top player from Malaysia, is the top seed in the tournament and will face Thai player Porranan in the first round. In the next round, the winner between the Danish veteran Wittinghus and the Malaysian player Zulfarri will take on the challenge. Soon after, Lee Chong Wei is likely to compete with the 7th-seeded Indonesian star Susyanto for one of the semifinal spots*. 　　Rio Olympic bronze medalist Axelsen is the second seed and will face Chinese player Huang Yongqi in the first round. Among the Chinese competitors, only Tian Houwei made it directly into the main draw; he is the fourth seed in the tournament and will face Hsu Ren-hao from Chinese Taipei in the first round. The next round will see them face the winner between South Korea’s rising star Choon Eui-chin and Germany’s talented player Zwiebler. If he succeeds in passing through, Tian Houwei will very likely compete with the 8th-seeded Indian star Srikans for a spot in the semifinals*. 　　In addition, 4 Chinese athletes are also competing in the qualifying rounds. Qiao Bin is the top seed in the qualifying round, facing Malaysian player Wu Shunfa in the first round. Second-seed Shi Yuqi will face the Japanese player Nishimoto Kenta, while Xue Song, the rising star of the Chinese badminton team who suffered an injury in the Indian Super Series last April, has returned to competition and will take on another Japanese player, Koyama Kanta, in the first round of the qualifying stage. If he passes through successfully, Xue Song will face Shi Yuqi in the next round to compete for a spot in the main draw*. Another Chinese player, Huang Yuxiang, will face the Thai player Kosit in the first round; none of China’s three top players are competing in the women’s singles category. The new Olympic champion and Spanish star Marín is the top seed in the tournament, facing Japanese player Miho Minegishi in the first round. Japanese rookie Ohara hopes to be seeded second at the tournament, facing Danish player Jexfied in the first round. Sun Yu is the 7th seed and will face a qualifier in the first round, while the 8th seed He Bingjiao will first take on the American player Zhang Beiwén. In the first round, Chen Yufei will face the Thai player Ambumrungpan; if she manages to advance, she is likely to encounter the second-seeded Japanese rising star Ohara Nozomi.