China's Thomas Cup squad seem unconquerable on paper – Badminton news
China announced its squad for Thomas Cup Finals and all top Chinese shuttlers will be competing for glory in this biggest team tournament which will also be their home event as it will take place in Wuhan, China, from May 20-27.
The Men’s Singles shuttlers including the World Number 2 Lin Dan who is ruling World Champion and Olympic gold medallist, the 2011 Denmark Open champion Chen Long, the former World Champion Chen Jin and the 2012 Badminton Asia Championships winner Du Pengyu.
According to many, only Men’s Singles shuttlers can beat the rest of the world as there is no other shuttler besides Malaysia Lee Chong Wei who could challenge this Great Wall of China in Singles category.
In the category of Men’s Doubles, the ruling World Champions Fu Haifeng – Cai Yun, Hong Wei – Shen Ye and Guo Zhengdong – Chai Biao will be participating in this prestigious tournament.
All Chinese shuttler seem strong on paper as they have a fascinating track record particularly in Men’s Singles.
Haifeng and Yun, the four-time World Champions in Men’s Doubles, are also in tremendous form and will not let anyone to dominate the arena in their home country.
Malaysia’s national coach Rashid Sidek said that Chinese shuttlers are strong and it would be better for Malaysians to avoid China before the top-eight stage.
He said, “They are looking quite strong and it will be best if we don’t meet them as early as the quarter-finals.”
However, he also said that being the host country, the pressure will also be on Chinese players and other teams can take benefit out of it.
He added, “As hosts, China may have their own pressures to deal with. Other teams will be out to take advantage of that.”
Besides the best Chinese player Lin, the in-form Jin will also be a player to watch as he has recently clinched three back-to-back titles in the last couple of months and have also qualified for the Olympic Games.
Chinese squad look formidable on table as they have launched their best side in Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles categories.
Besides China, three other nations will also be there including South Korea, Indonesia and Denmark who can shake the boat of hosting nation in this team-event championship.
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