Following busy last few weeks of Superseries action in India, Malaysia and Singapore, badminton action returns to China for the 2017 Bony China Masters, the $150,000 Grand Prix Gold tournament, starting 18 April.
All eyes will be on two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, who is gearing up to defend his title, after his title-winning run at Malaysia Open earlier this month.
The Chinese legend is racing against time to qualify for BWF World Championships 2017 and he is currently the fourth highest-ranked Men's singles shuttler from China at 10 behind Shi Yuqi (6), Chen Long (7) and Tian Houwei (8). Notably, only the top-three (as on cut-off date - 27 April) from a member nation earn an automatic qualifying spot
Competition: Bony China Masters 2017
Date: 18 April, Tuesday to 23 April, Sunday
Venue: Olympic Sports Center, Changzhou
TV Channel: In Singapore, StarHub Sports will provide TV coverage from semi-final rounds.
Live streaming: Hotstar, BWF official YouTube channel
Live scores can be found on tournament's official website.
While most of the top-ranked shuttlers have opted out of the tournament, Lin faces an easy passage until the quarter-final and is likely to take on either third seed Qiao Bin or India's former top-10 shuttler Parupalli Kashyap in the semi-final.
Lin has a good chance to leapfrog second seed Houwei in BWF rankings and the 34-year-old will be eyeing a win against his compatriot in a possible title clash.
Junior World Champion eyes success at home
World junior champion Chen Yufei of China will start as the top-seeded Women's singles shuttler in the tournament. The 19-year-old, who started the season on a high with a runner-up finish at Swiss Open, will look to make an impact at home.
Yufei faces threat from Japanese shuttlers Aya Ohori and Ayumi Mine. Taiwan's in-form shuttler Chia Hsin Lee will be hoping to end her title drought and the absence of top-ranked Women's singles shuttlers provides her a good opportunity.
Seeding information
| Men's singles | Women's singles |
| 1. Lin Dan (Chn) | 1. Chen Yufei (Chn) |
| 2. Tian Houwei (Chn) | 2. Aya Ohori (Jpn) |
| 3. Qiao Bin (Chn) | 3. Ayumi Mine (Jpn) |
| 4. Huang Yuxiang (Chn) | 4. Chia Hsin Lee (Twn) |
| 5. Hsu Jen Hao (Twn) | 5. Saena Kawakami (Jpn) |
| 6. Kanta Tsuneyama (Jpn) | 6. Shuo Yun Sung (Twn) |
| 7. Lin Yu Hsien (Twn) | 7. Su Yu Chen (Twn) |
| 8. Zhao Junpeng (Chn) | 8. Gao Fangjie (Chn) |
Order of Play of key matches on 19 April, Wednesday
Men's singles
Lin Dan v Qin Zheng
Qiao Bin v En Chia Chang
Huang Yuxiang v Hashiru Shimono
Tian Houwei v Guo Kai
Parupalli Kashyap v Suppanyu Avihingsanon
Women's singles
Chen Yufei v Haruko Suzuki
Aya Ohori v Wang Zhiyi
Chia Hsin Lee v Hui Xirui
