Beijing: China named an offensive men’s squad and an experienced women’s lineup on Thursday for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals which are to be held at the Kunshan Sports Centre in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China, from May 15th to May 22nd.
The Chinese badminton Chief coach Li Yongbo introduced the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup roster with a shock exclusion of 2013 All England men’s doubles champions Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan, one of the top men’s doubles pair for the team. Instead, Liu Cheng/Zheng Siwei have been picked to replace Liu/Qiu.
The newly-crowned All England men’s singles champion Lin Dan and World No. 1 Chen Long will play vital roles to re-capture the Thomas Cup from Japan on their home turf this year. The Chinese have also opted to field Tian Houwei, Wang Zhengming, and Xue Song in the men’s singles, while Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan, Chai Biao/Hong Wei, , Li Junhui, Liu Yuchen, and Lu Kai are part of the men’s doubles squad.
In the Uber Cup team, the Chinese have selected Li Xue Rui, Wang Xian, Wang Yihan, He Bing Jiao and Sun Yu to play in women’s singles, while four pairs of women’s doubles including Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei, Yu Yang/Tang Yuanting, Luo Yin / Luo Yu, Huang Yaqiong/Tang Jinhua have been chosen to play women’s doubles for the Uber Cup defending champions.
