SINGAPORE — Liang Xiaoyu (picture), Singapore’s top female badminton player, has drawn the short straw for next month’s OUE Singapore Open (April 12-17).

The 19-year-old world No 43 will face defending champion Sun Yu of China in the first round of the women’s singles competition, and will face even bigger obstacles in her path if she manages to get past the world No 12: World No 2 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan and India’s world No 6 Saina Nehwal are also in the same half of the draw with her.

However, Liang is unfazed by the prospect of taking on some of the biggest names in women’s badminton.

The teenager, who ended her competitive season in style last year by finishing second in the Thailand Open in October and then winning the Malaysia International Challenge Championships — her first senior title — a month later, said she was looking forward to the challenge. “Being able to play in the Singapore Open makes me very happy,” said Liang, who did not make it past the qualifying rounds last year.

“Even though I’m competing against the defending champion, I will keep a calm composure and do my best to win every competition.”

In the men’s singles, Derek Wong has to play two qualifiers before he can claim a first-round meeting with two-time Singapore Open champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand. Wong has to face Soo Teck Zhi of Malaysia and, if he prevails, he will take on either Lin Yu-Hsien or Jonatan Christie.

Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan could end up facing defending champion Kento Momota in the men’s singles semi-finals as both of them are in the lower half of the draw. Lin, who won his sixth All-England Championships title earlier this month, will face Ihsan Maulana Mustofa from Indonesia in the first round.

“Having won two competitions consecutively (German Open and All-England), I feel good about my current condition,” said Lin.

“I still enjoy the thrill of winning very much and I hope to play my best in Singapore (which is the last Superseries before the Olympics qualifying period closes).”

Momota will kickstart the defence of his title against China’s Wang Zhengming.