HA NOI — Vietnamese top badminton player Nguyen Tien Minh is likely to face world No 1 Lee Chong Wei in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Super Series 2012.

According to the Badminton World Federation's draw, Minh will meet the Malaysian if he defeats Chinese Wang Zhengming and Indonesian Taufik Hidayat in the earlier rounds. The 28-year-old Vietnamese ranks higher than Hidayat but the 2004 Summer Olympics gold medallist has considerable professional experience.

Before taking part in the tournament on January 10-15, Minh, the word No 8, will start the new year with the Super Series South Korea Open on January 3-8. Minh is also expected to meet Lee in the quarter-finals of this tournament.

The HCM City-based player lost to Singapore's Zi Liang Derek Wong 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the men's singles competition at the Southeast Asian Games, which finished last month in Indonesia.

Minh dropped from 7th to 8th in the world in December after a run of bad performances. — VNS