Potential Zii Jia vs Tien Chen clash as Malaysia draw Chinese Taipei at BATC

Hosts and men’s defending champions Malaysia have been handed a favourable draw at the upcoming Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) after they were in Group B alongside Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Brunei.

Of the three teams, Chinese Taipei will pose the strongest threat, but it will also mean an exciting line-up that could include Lee Zii Jia vs Chou Tien-chen and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik taking on reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin.

Other interesting men’s match-ups will see China facing India and Hong Kong in Group A, while Japan, Thailand, Singapore & Myanmar do battle in Group C.

Indonesia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Saudi Arabia meanwhile will make up Group D.

In the women’s draw, Malaysia are housed in Group Y alongside Thailand and the UAE.

China and India are in Group W, while Indonesia, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan make up Group X.

Group Z is made up of Japan, Chinese Taipei and Singapore.

The top two teams from each group will qualify to the quarter-finals.

Malaysia have fielded a strong line-up for both the men’s and women’s teams which consists of Lee, Ng Tze Yong, Chia-Soh, Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah and Goh Jin Wei.

India have also named their strongest line-up including Lakshya Sen and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty for this event.

Other nations are also expected to put out a strong squad, especially with Olympic ranking points on offer.

The BATC will take place from Feb 13-18 in Shah Alam.