Winding road ahead for national players in Aichi-Nagoya

Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are set to begin on Friday, with Malaysia's national athletes facing a challenging journey ahead. In the men's doubles event, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Aaron Chia-Tee Kai Wun are paired together, but their path to a medal is fraught with difficulties. They will likely face top-tier opponents such as South Korea's Kim Won Ho-Seo-Seo Seung Jae in the second round.

Meanwhile, Sze Fei-Izzuddin and Taiwan's Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin will not make things easy for them in their opening match. If they manage to overcome that, they may have to fathom a quarter-final clash with China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang.

In the women's doubles event, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah will encounter Indonesia's Rachel Allessya Rose-Febi Setianingrum in the first round, with a possible quarter-final showdown against Japan's Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto. Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Ramdan will also face difficulties against Taiwan's Hsu Yin Hui-Lin Jhih Yun. She had initially been excluded from the team event due to an ankle injury but returns to compete individually.

In the men's singles event, Leong Jun Hao will begin with a first-round bye, with potential matchups against either Japan's Kento Nishimoto or Indonesia's Alwi Farhan. Meanwhile, Justin Hoh will find the task tougher against Thailand's Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul in the first round.

The women's singles event sees K. Letshanaa up against Taiwan's Chiu Pin Chian, while Wong Ling Ching receives a bye and is expected to face Indonesia's Putri Kusuma Wardani in the quarter-finals. In the mixed doubles event, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie will square off against Yang Po Hsuan-Hu Ling Fang, and Chen Tang Jie-Cheng Su Yin will take on Bangladesh's Jumat Al Amin-Urmi Akter. A possible second-round opponent for them could be South Korea's Kim Jae Hyeon-Jang-Jang Ha Jeong.