Badminton’s elite have it all to play for at the LI-NING China Masters 2024.

There is a fresh look to the HSBC Race to Finals this year with a host of confirmed player retirements and well-known pairs choosing to end their long-standing partnerships after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Others, too, are either injured or have opted for some well-earned rest and recovery post-Games and are already out of contention for the season-ending HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.

Several big names are teetering on the edge of qualification and are hard-pressed to seal their spots.

Of those guaranteed of a Hangzhou berth, Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (currently 3^rd in the standings), and Korea’s women’s doubles pair, Lee So Hee/Baek Ha Na, are the only withdrawals from the LI-NING China Masters 2024 this week.

This particularly shakes things up in men’s singles with Li Shi Feng (in 8^th) and Jonatan Christie (in 12^th) elevated in the draw after the Seed Withdrawal Movement. It now means a huge first round clash between last week’s winner Li and No.9 in the HSBC Race to Finals, Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday. The loser will be waving goodbye to their Finals hopes.

Meanwhile, No.7 in the standings, Koki Watanabe, has Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen first up and the Japanese could also be facing the cut if he can’t pull a surprise.

All eyes will be on Thailand’s trio of women’s singles stars Supanida Katethong, Pornpawee Chochuwong, and Ratchanok Intanon who are vying for the last country spot behind Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who is in the box seat to qualify.

Katethong fared most favourably after the Seed Withdrawal Movement, avoiding Pusarla V. Sindhu and now faces Germany’s Yvonne Li, while Intanon will need her trademark magic to get past Olympic champion An Se Young.

Reigning men’s doubles world champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae (7^th) risk missing out having chosen to bypass the Shenzhen showdown. Only one of Malaysia’s two contending pairs, Man Wei Chong/Kai Wun Tee (6^th) or Olympic bronze medallists Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (9^th), can join compatriots Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzudin in the top eight.

Women’s doubles is wide open with five pairs fighting for the remaining two spots: Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi, Treesa Jolly/ Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, Sung Shuo Yun/ Yu Chien Hui, Chang Ching Hui/ Yang Ching Tun, and Yeung Nga Ting/ Yeung Pui Lam.

It’s less complicated in mixed doubles. Should top seeds Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping defeat Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito in round one, Korea’s Kim Won Ho/Jeong Na Eun and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Po-Hsuan/Hu Ling Fang will progress.

Remarkably, Feng and Huang look set to miss the Hangzhou showpiece with Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong entitled to cash in their golden ticket as Olympic champions and boom young pair Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin holding an insurmountable lead in the HSBC Race to Finals rankings.

LI-NING China Masters 2024

Promotions

Men’s Singles: Priyanshu Rajawat (India), Su Li Yang (Chinese Taipei)

Women’s Singles: Lauren Lam (USA), Upadhyaya Anuparna (IND)

Men’s Doubles: Lin Yu Chieh/Yueng Pui Lam (Chinese Taipei)

Women’s Doubles: Nicole Gonzales Chan/Lin Chih-Chin (Chinese Taipei)

Withdrawals

Men’s Singles: Kodai Naraoka (Japan), Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia)

Women’s Singles: Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipe), Nozomi Okuhara (Japan)

Men’s Doubles:  Andreas Sondergaard/Jesper Toft (Denmark)

Women’s Doubles: Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee (Korea)