On the morning of May 1, the Chinese Badminton Association officially announced the 20-man roster of the Chinese team to participate in the 2023 Sudirman Cup. Among them, not only all the main players of each individual were selected, but also several young faces.
In this freshly baked 20-member roster, there are three each for men's singles and women's singles, two pairs each for men's doubles and mixed doubles, and three pairs for women's doubles.
Among them, the three people with the highest ranking in the men's singles were selected together, namely Shi Yuqi, the men's singles champion of the 2022 Danish Open, Li Shifeng, the men's singles champion of the 2023 All England Open, and Lu Guangzu, who won the bronze medal at the just-concluded Asian Championships. This is Shi Yuqi's first international team competition since returning to the international competition at last year's World Championships, and he is naturally the core of the men's singles group as the main player in the past two Su Cups; Li Shifeng and Lu Guangzu's recent performance has improved significantly, and I believe that they can share the pressure of preparation for Shi Yuqi and give more choices to the candidates on the field.
The women's singles selection is also the top three players, led by Olympic champion Chen Yufei He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi. In this year's Su Cup, the pressure on the women's singles group is not small, but it also has good cards. For example, Chen Yufei has shown a recovery in recent encounters with several major opponents, and He Bingjiao and Wang Zhiyi have improved their strength and rankings over the past year.
In men's doubles, the two top 10 pairs currently in the rankings were selected together, namely 2022 Grand Final champions Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi and 2023 Indian Open champions Leung Wai Keng/Wang Chang. Two different styles, both high-level tournament winning pairs, can have different options against different opponents.
The women's doubles have the most selected combinations, which are three-time world champions Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, 2022 Australian Open champions Zheng Yu/Zhang Shuxian, and Tan Ning/Liu Shengshu, who began participating in the World Tour this year and won the Madrid Masters.
The mixed doubles pair was selected by world number one Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong and world number seven Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping, while newcomers Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin, who had just won the Asian Championships last night, were not selected.
After the Asian Championships, Guoyu will return to China to devote himself to the preparation of the Su Cup. In 13 days, the Su Cup will kick off at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center.
The following is the original text of the announcement of the Chinese Badminton Association:
The 2023 Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championships will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China from May 14 to May 21. At home, the Chinese badminton team will go all out to achieve good results. Based on the comprehensive consideration of factors such as athletes' world ranking, international competition performance and young people's training, the team committee discussed and proposed the list and reported it to the office of the chairman of the Chinese Badminton Association for study and decision, and determined the list of 20 participants of the Chinese badminton team, which is hereby announced as follows:
Men's singles: Shi Yuqi, Li Shifeng, Lu Guangzu
Women's singles: Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao, Wang Zhiyi
Men's Doubles: Liu Yuchen/Ou Weiyi, Liang Weihang/Wang Chang
Women's doubles: Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, Zheng Yu/Zhang Shuxian, Liu Shengshu/Tan Ning
Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong, Feng Yanzhe/Huang Dongping
Chinese Badminton Association
May 1, 2023