Defending champion Lee Chong Wei begins campaign in pursuit of a record seventh Indonesia Open title in Jakarta against local favourite Tommy Sugiarto in the Men's singles first round on Wednesday.
The top seed is heading into the tournament on the back of a decent run at Sudirman Cup 2017, in which he won all his three matches before Malaysia bowed out in the quarter-final.
On the other hand, Sugiarto had an early end to his Badminton Asia Championships campaign following his first-round loss to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in April.
Chong Wei is bidding to become the first shuttler to win seven Indonesia Open titles, surpassing Indonesia greats Ardy Wiranata and Taufik Hidayat's record of six titles each. With a tough road ahead, which includes a meeting against reigning Olympic champion as early as in the quarter-final, the Malaysian legend would want to make sure he does not spend a lot of time on court in the first two rounds.
Notably, the world number three has a staggering 14-0 head-to-head record over Sugiarto and Wednesday's clash is also likely to be a one-sided affair, given the recent form of the two shuttlers. Chong Wei has reached at least the semi-final in all major tournaments this year, including a title at All England Championships and a runner-up finish at Malaysia Superseries Premier.
Sugiarto, on the other hand, started the season well, leading Chennai Smashers to title at Premier Badminton League in India and followed it up with a title at Thailand Masters. However, the former Singapore Open champion has struggled to make his mark in Superseries tournaments in the ongoing season and it will be an uphill task for the local shuttler to progress past the first round at home.
