Badminton: Players with plenty of punch at NZ Open

All eyes will be on Thailand's Bodin Issara (left), who returns to the sport after a two-year ban for assaulting an opponent in 2013. Photo / AP

He's not among the seeds but Thai player Bodin Issara is likely to get a fair bit of attention when the New Zealand Open badminton event starts on the North Shore next week.

Issara was once world No7 but his notoriety is based around a video clip, which went viral, of him chasing one of his opponents, former national teammate Maneepong Jongjit, around the arena at the 2013 Canadian Open before pummelling him.

The pair had reached the Olympic quarter-finals in London a year earlier, but this serious physical falling out earned Issara a two-year ban and he has just returned to the sport.

Lefthander Issara, 24, doesn't have a ranking, but interestingly, his partner in the men's doubles will be Nipithphon Puangpuapech of Thailand, who was Jongjit's partner in that infamous game in Canada.

They might be a surprise package in the men's doubles but it's a quality field with nine players boasting a top 20 ranking in recent years, including world championship titles and Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals.

Indeed, another unseeded combination are genuine contenders - Indonesians Markis Kiddo and Agripinna Putra.

Kiddo was Olympic gold medallist in 2008 in Beijing and the 2007 world champion. Putra has been as high as No25, suggesting they have the makings of a formidable pairing. They are due to meet fourth-seeded Germans Raphael Beck and Andreas Heinz in the second round.

The mixed doubles top seeds will be Indonesians Riky Widianto and Puspita Richi Dili, eighth in the world, but others to keep an eye on will be current world junior champions Qingchen Chen and Kaixiang Huang of China.

However, they're not teaming up in the mixed event. Chen is seeded fifth with Zheng Si Wei, while Hugna is one spot lower with Qianxin Zhong.

Solid favourites in the women's doubles will be No1-rated combination Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth and Rizki Pradipta of Indonesia, the world's No21-ranked pair. At one point they were the world's sixth best double team.

If it's unseeded pairings you fancy, try former world No1 Wen Hsing Cheng of Taipei, who partners compatriot Pei Ling Shuai.

Also watch out for Bernadeth in the mixed doubles, where she will partner her brother, Kiddo.

"There are some amazing early matches in the draw throughout the doubles and mixed competition," said event director and former New Zealand champion Julie Carrel.

"Without question it's the highest quality tournament we have seen in New Zealand."

The Sky City-sponsored open, with its new Grand Prix gold status and increased purse of US$120,000, starts at North Shore events centre next Tuesday.

Badminton seedings

New Zealand Open doubles seeds

Mixed doubles
1: Riky Widianto/Puspita Richi Dili (Indonesia, world ranking 8)
2: Danny Bawa Chrisnanta/Yu Yan Neo (Singapore, 17)
3: Martis Kido/Pia Bernadeth (Indonesia, 28)
4: Ronald Alenander/Melati Daeva Oktaviani (Indonesia, 30)

Men's doubles
1: Chrisnanta/Chayut Triyachart (Singapore, 21)
2: Hendra Gunawan/Andrei Adistia (Indonesia, 24)
3: Yuchen Liu/Junhui Li (China, 27)
4: Raphael Beck/Andreas Heinz (Germany, 29)

Women's doubles
1: Bernadeth/Rizki Amelia Pradipta (Indonesia, 21)
2: Ozge Bayrak/Neslihan Yigit (Turkey, 35)
3: Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (Japan, 48)
4: Huan Xia/Zhong Qianxin (China, 50)