Badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek has earmarked Taiwanese players to be a spoilsport at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships, slated to run from April 8 to 13 at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Ningbo, China.
The Taiwanese singles stars, led by World No.9 Chou Tien Chen, are making waves at the BWF World Tour this year.
World No.14 Lee Chia Hao reached the 2025 All England Open final while World No.13 Lin Chun Yi was a runner-up at the Orleans Open and a semi-finalist at the Swiss Open.
Meanwhile, World No. 30 Chi Yu Jen, impressed with a quarter-finals appearance at Malaysia Open in January.
Six men’s singles from Taiwar are inside World No.50; half of what Malaysia have — Lee Zii Jia (No. 8), Leong Jun Hao (No. 26) and Justin Hoh (No. 48) — to keep their flag flying high.
“Taiwan have always had talent in singles, even during my time,” said Rashid.
“But Lee Yang-Chi Lin’s historic achievements probably convinced their government and sponsors to pump in more money. Now their men’s singles players are reaping the benefits.”
He further believes that Taiwan’s shuttlers could cause major upsets.
“I foresee a few top names falling to Taiwanese players,” he said.
“On paper, world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi has a slight edge to win on home soil. But if he meets Chia Hao in the quarter-finals, it could go either way — and the same applies to defending champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.”
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