GUANGZHOU, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- World No.1 Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong of China are running for their only missing major badminton title in mixed doubles despite being drawn into a tricky group at the draw ceremony of the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2019 held here on Monday.
The Chinese duo will meet three tough pairs in Group B: Indonesia's Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, and Japanese Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino.
"We are satisfied with the draw since the two Chinese pairs are in different groups," said Zheng, as their compatriots and defending champions Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping have been allocated in Group A.
"We have lost to the three pairs in the past, and they are all playing well, particularly the Japanese pair, who have been in form recently. We will treat each match like a final. We're confident of winning the title, but during the match, we won't think too much about it," he added.
In men's singles, two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan will compete with Indonesia's Jonatan Christie, Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei and Anders Antonsen of Denmark in Group A, while home favorite Chen Long is in the "group of death" with Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Indonesia's Anthony Ginting.
In women's singles, Chinese ace Chen Yufei will reckon with defending champion Pusarla V Sindhu of India, Akane Yamaguchi from Japan and compatriot He Bingjiao.
The two Chinese women's doubles pairs Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan and Du Yue/Li Yinhui are in the same group with world No.2 Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota from Japan, while defending champions of men's doubles Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen from China will face serious challenges against top seeds Indonesia's Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Asian champions Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe of Japan.
"I hope the players to gain experience here and be better prepared for Tokyo Games," the president of the Chinese Badminton Association Zhang Jun said.
