World number one Kento Momota will be looking to retain his men’s singles title at the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan ©Getty Images

World number one Kento Momota will be looking to retain his men’s singles title at the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan, where action is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

The Japanese player beat China’s Chen Long in the 2018 final at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium.

His first-round opponent this year is South Korea’s Lee Dong-keun.

Chen is seeded fourth behind Momota, compatriot Shi Yuqi and Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen.

Standing between him and a place in the second round is Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama.

China's Chen Yufei is the women's singles top seed ©Getty Images
China's Chen Yufei is the women's singles top seed ©Getty Images

In the women’s singles event, China’s Chen Yufei is the top seed.

The 21-year-old will be aiming to build on her triumph at last month’s All England Open in Birmingham. 

She will first have to find her way past Vietnam’s Vũ Thị Trang. 

Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi are seeded second and third respectively, while India’s Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is ranked fourth.

Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-ying, the two-time reigning champion and current world number one, has opted out of the six-day event.