Four-time champion Lin Dan begins Badminton Asia Championships 2017 campaign at home against South Korea's Lee Dong Keun in the opening round match at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The fourth seed is among the title favourites and is looking in good shape to the go the distance in the ongoing tournament after making a successful return to court in the 2017 season.
The world number eight, who opted out of second part of 2016 season, suffered a shock semi-final exit at All England Championships last month, but has got back to track with a maiden title at Malaysia Open, in which he beat arch-rival Lee Chong Wei in the title match.
On the other hand, South Korea's Lee has been suffering a title drought ever since he won the Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold title at home in 2015.
After facing early exits at India and Malaysia Open in the new season, the world number 30 had a stunning run to semi-final earlier this month at Singapore Superseries, in which he defeated defending champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the opening round and edged past Ng Ka Long and Jonathan Christie only to lose to eventual champion Sai Praneeth.
While the South Korean will be high on confidence, beating Lin will be an uphill task given his head-to-head record, which stands 6-0 in favour of the two-time Olympic champion.
