Li Xuerui, Wang Shixian & Wang Yihan's Olympic bid up in air

With at least five players who have made top 16, the China badminton team officials will finalise their two choices for the women’s singles on July 18
Top women’s badminton players from China, including defending singles champion Li Xuerui, will be forced to wait until the last moment before finding out whether they will go to the Rio Olympic Games

China had five women’s singles players in the world’s top 16 when the one-year qualification period closed this month, but countries are only permitted to send two competitors.

Li, along with Wang Yihan, the losing finalist in London four years ago, Wang Shixian, Sun Yu and He Bingjiao are all possible picks after reaching the world’s top 16.
Coach Chen Jin said yesterday selectors had to consider all the possible factors before making a decision on who goes.
"The deadline for submitting the two names is July 18 and we will definitely wait until that last month before making a decision," said the coach.
"Many people say Li and the two Wangs have the best chance of going and this is true but you cannot deny the opportunity of Sun and He as they have defeated the trio before.
"We will leave immediately for the Indonesia Open and other opens on the tour. We will have to consider all the international results of the players until July, especially their records against our major rivals.
"We are facing a more difficult situation than in London four years ago. On that occasion, we were able to send three singles players to the Games but it’s only two this time, meaning our winning chance has been reduced by 50 per cent.
"Also, we only had one or two major rivals in London but in Rio, we will face 10 to 16 major rivals."
Wang Yihan, currently ranked third in the world, was not surprised by the tough internal competition.
"This is normal in team China and we always have to face strong competition from our teammates," she said.
"It’s the dream of any player to go to the Olympics, especially to make a second appearance in a row if I get selected, but life still has to go on if I am not. Someone will be disappointed."
Li agreed the mainland players were facing tough competition among themselves.
"Everyone wants to go, but only two will be selected," said the 25-year-old defending champion, who has suffered with injury since snatching the gold medal in London.

"I was like a white paper before going to London and now I am a much more mature player, and know more about the Games but the chance of winning remains difficult."
World number one Carolina Marin of Spain, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, Sania Nehwal of India and Sung Jihyun of South Korea, are all set to challenge the mainlanders in Rio.

Lee Chong Wei appointed Purple League ambassador

Malaysia's badminton ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei has been appointed as an ambassador for the Purple League Badminton Tournament this season.

Executive Officer of Purple League (M) Sdn Bhd Datuk Jack Koh said, the appointment of the world number two shuttler was made based on his smashing track record.
He noted that through the appointment, the Penangite would be able to offer his invaluable insight and experience to nurture young hopefuls and elevate the standard of play by producing a bigger pool of young players for the country.
"We feel the collaboration between both parties will be enable us to work closely on the development side besides capitalising his (Chong Wei) image as a prominent badminton figure in the country," he told a press conference, here today.
Speaking of the 2016/17 Purple League Tournament, Koh said competing teams would still remain at eight but revealed that the Junior Purple League would see a second division introduced this year to nurture more talented youngsters.
"Currently, most of the competing clubs are sourcing for players from states rather than nurturing their own players and the introduction of the second division Junior Purple League will see and more new club coming onboard," Koh added.
Chong Wei, on the other hand, praised the effort by the organiser to continue the tournament which is aimed to unearth more talented young shuttlers in the country.
"I'm myself played in this league and also other leagues in Indonesia and China, so I think this league is among the best way for us to unearth more talented players.
"At the same time, the inclusion of a few top 10 players in the Purple League for the past two seasons will enable a few national players like Iskandar Zulkarnain to gauge their performance," said the two-time Olympic Games silver medallist.
For the record, the Muar Badminton Club (Muar BC) has won back-to-back titles in the tournament (2014/15 and 2015/16).
The Purple League Badminton Tournament was introduced in 2013 by Koh, which among others was aimed to create a brand new platform in support of the country's badminton scene while raising the standard of the sports and create future champions.

PBSI turn focus to Olympics after Thomas-Uber disappointments

After emerging as the runners-up in Thomas Cup Finals, and losing to Korea in the Uber Cup quarter-finals, the Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) said their men's and women's team have set their sights on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

"We've been preparing for Rio Olympics for a while, but we have temporarily given our attention to Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Now that the tournament is over, it's time to focus on the Olympics," said Chairman of PBSI Central Executive Board Gita Wirjawan at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang on Monday.

"A number of our shuttlers will also participate in the Indonesia Open that will kick off next week," said Wirjawan.
Despite failing to bring the trophies home, Wirjawan was satisfied with the performance of the Indonesian shuttlers.
"Although we didn't win the Thomas Cup, but I am very proud of our Thomas and Uber Cup teams. I strongly believe we have better chance in the future," added Wirjawan.
Ten Indonesian shuttlers, including Tommy Sugiarto in men’s singles, Linda Wenifanetri in women’s singles, Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan in men’s doubles, Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari in women’s doubles, and two mixed doubles players, namely Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir and Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto have officially earned qualification berths for the August Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

Viktor Axelsen takes aim at Olympics after Thomas Cup victory

Denmark shuttlers will be looking forward to stamp down their authority in the Badminton events at the 2016 Summer Olympics after their historic Thomas Cup victory on Sunday.

Denmark's World No. 4 men's shuttler Viktor Axelsen has expressed strong interest that he wants his shot at Olympic glory.

"I am confident the Denmark players will prove themselves in the Olympics," said Axelsen.
"I believe I can go far in the Olympics because if you don’t believe in yourself then it won’t happen," added Axelsen.
Axelsen’s Thomas Cup performance has attracted attention from China’s Chief Badminton coach, Li Yongbo. Li has named Axelsen and his team-mate Jan O Jorgensen as major threats to China’s men's singles players at the Olympics this summer.
"Now, the competition in Rio is fierce because many players could win the Olympics," said Li.
"I guess I might have a good chance if Li Yongbo went out there to say something about me," said Axelsen in response to Li’s comment.
The current President of the Badminton World Federation and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic badminton champion Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen even predicted Axelsen could emerge into a badminton superstar in the near future.
"Axelsen has potential to be the World No. 1 player especially when Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei ease into retirement by gradually cutting back from their participation in tournaments after the Olympics."

Denmark stun Indonesia 3-2 to complete Thomas Cup fairy tale

Denmark's shuttlers had just made history on Sunday afternoon by beating 13-time Thomas Cup champions Indonesia in the 2016 Thomas Cup final. The homeland of Hans Christian Andersen, that famed writer of fairy tales, was living one of shuttlers’ great giant-slaying stories but for World No.13 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, the moment of triumph brought him an unforgettable sensation

It's a big honor for me to play the last match in the final," said Vittinghus after he crushed World No.31 Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21-15, 21-7 in 40 minutes to trigger celebrations in the Danish camp

I had dreamed about it since we came here last week. I appreciated that my teammates made me an opportunity to win this match. Bringing the Thomas Cup back to Denmark means a lot to us," added Vittinghus.After becoming 8-time runners-up in the world's most prestigious badminton team tournament since its inception in 1949, Denmark finally clinched their maiden Thomas Cup title by beating Indonesia 3-2 in the final to become the first European country to lift the prestigious Cup after a 67-year wait.

World No.4 Viktor Axelsen set Denmark on a roll with a 21-17, 21-18 victory in 54 minutes over World No.7 Tommy Sugiarto in the first men's singles match.

The 13-time champions Indonesia showed no mercy against Denmark when Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan smashed past Mads Conrad Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding 21-18, 21-13 to draw level at 1-1.

In the third match of the afternoon, Jan Jorgensen, who was rested and was said to experience a hip problem, fended off a late comeback by Anthony Ginting in the first set to win 21-17. The Dane went on a rampage that saw him roared past Anthony 21-12 in second game to put up Denmark 2-1.

But the Indonesians weren't going to go down without a fight. Their 2015 Sea Games men's doubles gold medalists Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi rallied to beat Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-16, 21-14 as Indonesia came back to even the tie 2-2.
In the final match, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus beat Indonesian Ihsan Maulana Mustofa in straight-set 21-16, 21-7 taking the final score to 3-2 in Denmark's favor by sweeping all 3 singles matches in the final.
With this win, Denmark became only the fifth country after Indonesia, China, Malaysia and Japan to win the prestigious badminton team title.

China beat Korea 3-1 to win 14th Uber Cup crown

China's women's team was on a mission to retain the Uber Cup at home after their men's team suffered worst loss in China's Thomas Cup history when they were beaten by Korea in the men's quarter-finals.

In Saturday’s Uber Cup final, reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui bounced back from dropping a set against South Korean Sung Ji Hyun, taking 58 minutes to subdue the resilient Sung 14-21, 21-13, 21-10.

China stumbled in the first women's doubles match that followed, when Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan halted the Chinese advance temporarily with aggressive play to beat Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei 16-21, 21-17, 25-23 in a pulsating battle.

It was a well-deserved win for the Korean pair over World No. 4 Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei

However, China restored the advantage quickly when World No. 6 Wang Shixian started off looking confident to beat Kim Hyo-Min who was moved up to Korea's second women's singles position to replace Bae Yeon-Ju after Bae sustained an ankle injury on court Friday night.

Wang exhausted Kim Hyo-min by moving the shuttlecock across the court at will during the 21-13, 21-12 rout.

China’s second doubles pairing of Chen Qingchen/Tang Yuanting then dominated Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee 21-14, 21-16 in 51 minutes for the winning point as their team-mates rushed over to celebrate their 14th Uber Cup title.

In Sunday's Thomas Cup final, Denmark men's team will be hoping to land the prestigious men's team title for the first time when they take on 13-times champions Indonesia.

China in unstoppable form to beat Spain 5-0 at Uber Cup

It's another easy 5-0 sweep for China in their third game at the Thomas and Uber Cup in Kunshan on Tuesday, this time against Spain

The Chinese women turned in an almost immaculate sheet, especially when World No. 6 Wang Shixian stormed past World No. 1 Carolina Marin in a marathon first women's singles match by beating the Spaniard 19-21, 21-18, 21-19 in a three-game tussle that lasted 87 minutes.

Following Marin's loss, the Chinese team went charging ahead after Sun Yu and World No. 4 Wang Yihan recorded straight set wins in the second and third women's singles match to lead their team to the 5-0 rout.
In the Uber Cup Group C tie, Thailand won against Indonesia 3-2, as the Thais narrowly survived a tough Uber Cup test after Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai managed to save two match points to beat Anggia Shitta Awanda/Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah 14-21 21-17 24-22 in 75 minutes to register the third point for Thailand.
Japan and India went on to sweep Germany and Australia in the Uber Cup Group D ties, and will face each other in their final group tie on Wednesday.

China beat Japan 5-0, Malaysia set to play Taiwan in Thomas Cup quarters

Badminton powerhouse China managed to exact their revenge in front of home crowd on Wednesday when they produced ruthless destructions to beat Japan 5-0 to top Group A in the Thomas Cup Finals.

Japanese team stunned China in the 2014 Thomas Cup semi-finals, and went on to win their first ever Thomas Cup after beating Malaysia in the final. However, with the absence of Kenichi Tago, and Kento Momota who were suspended in April over a gambling scandal, the Japanese team was struggling to put up a good fight against China on Wednesday.

After dropping a set, World No. 1 Chen Long fought back to scrap past Japan's Sho Sasaki 20-22, 21-17, 21-12 in 85 minutes.
"I had to really stay focused in order to beat Sho Sasaki," said Chen after the match.
"The real challenge starts in the knockout stage tomorrow," added Chen.
China's Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan had to endure a desperate run of forms by Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa before surviving scare to keep China ahead with 2-0, stormed past the Japanese pair 21-19, 25-27, 21-15 in 82 minutes.
China's badminton superstar Lin Dan then regained his form after struggling earlier this week to overcome Japan's Takuma Ueda with a 21-18, 21-8 win.
"I've made enough preparation for the match, and I will try to bring Thomas Cup back to China," said Lin Dan.
For the Group D Thomas Cup tie, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen breezed past Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen 21-16, 21-13 before Mads Conrad-Petersen paired with Mads Pieler Kolding to beat Lee Sheng Mu and Tsai Chia Hsin 22-20, 21-9 and give Denmark a 2-0 lead.
Taiwan's Hsu Jen Hao's then pulled off an upset over Jan O Jorgensen with 13-21, 21-16, 21-19 in a marathon match which lasted 79 minutes.
It was Mathias Boe and Mathias Christiansen who claimed the victory for Denmark after a hard-fought 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 win against Wang Chi-Lin and Chen Hung Ling.
"We all knew how important it was to win this match and top the group," said Christiansen. "It was about keeping our heads cool and we did that and managed to do well in the last few rallies."
China will play Korea, while Denmark will take on Japan, Malaysia will face Taiwan, and Indonesia will clash with Hong Kong in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Malaysia in Thomas Cup quarterfinals after beating Germany 5-0

Malaysia Thomas Cup team has marched into the quarter-finals of Thomas Cup Finals after Lee Chong Wei, Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong, and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin delivered the first 3 points in the best of five format on Monday.
World No. 2 Lee Chong Wei battled through an unexpectedly tough first men's singles match when he needed 40 minutes to beat unheralded Kai Schaefer 21-19, 21-15 on day two in Kunshan, China.

Men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong was able to give a stable performance when they put Malaysia ahead with 2-0 after trashing Richard Domke-Fabian Holzer 21-12, 21-11.

Although it was his Thomas Cup debut, Malaysia's national men's singles champion Iskandar Zulkarnain sealed the tie with a victory against Lars Schaenzler with a 21-7, 21-16 win in 32 minutes.
Former World No. 1 men's doubles pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong did not let Sunday's defeat to overshadow their second Thomas Cup match. The pair ruthlessly destroyed Mark Lamsfuss-Josche Zurwonne 21-15, 21-10 in just 31 minutes.
Chong Wei Feng, then played a wonderful match as the men's third singles when he outgunned David Peng 21-9, 21-18.
Malaysia will play their toughest Group C tie against South Korea on Tuesday to decide which team will be the champions and runners-up for the group.
Meanwhile, playing in the second Thomas Cup tie, the Koreans showed they are strong contender for the 2016 Thomas Cup title by knocking off England 5-0.

China records 5-0 win against France at Thomas Cup

Badminton powerhouse China has recorded a comprehensive 5-0 win over France in the group stage of the Thomas Cup finals, in Kunshan, Jiangsu-China on Monday

World number one Chen Long opened the score 1-0 to lift his team's sweep with a commanding 21-9, 21-12 win against Thomas Rouxel.

Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan then saw off Ronan Labar/Gaetan Mittelheisser 21-16, 22-20 to secure a comfortable 2-0 lead for China.
However, badminton star Lin struggled to find his rhythm during his first match of the tournament, losing the first game to France's Lucas Corvee, before bouncing back to win the match 20-22, 21-14, 21-8.
China’s second men’s doubles pair Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen beat Bastian Kersaudy and Julien Mai for a 4-0 advantage before Tian Houwei concluded the tie by outlasting Lucas Corvee 21-17, 21-12.
In another Group A tie, after beating France with 5-0 on Sunday, defending champion Japan defeated Mexico 5-0 for its second successive victory in Thomas Cup badminton.
Both China and Japan will play each other on Wednesday to decide who tops the group.

Lee Chong Wei set fastest smash record at 408 km/h

Malaysia's badminton maestro Lee Chong Wei topped the list for most powerful smash in any international badminton tournament since last September, with 408 kilometers per hour at the 2015 Hong Kong Open, which he won at the Coliseum in Hung Hom

That data was clocked by Badminton World Federation (BWF) using the Hawk-Eye technology. Hawk-Eye was also being used to provide instant-review at some major tournaments.

The speed record data also indicated men's badminton player routinely smash over the speed of 390 km/h.
Jan Jorgensen of Denmark was in the second place in term of smashing speed, with 407 km/h in the semi-finals of the 2016 Malaysia Open.
Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China also recorded a 401 km/h smash on his way to victory in the 2015 Japan Open.
The 2013 World Champion, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand delivered the fastest smash, clocking at 372 km/h in the semi-finals of the 2016 Malaysia Open.
However, different measuring techniques produced the record differently. In August 2013, Malaysian badminton star Tan Boon Heong has unofficially broken his own world smash speed record, propelling the shuttle to 493 kilometers per hour in a special experiment conducted by a badminton equipment manufacturer.
The Guinness Book of World Records also showed a discrepancy in the smash record because it said a 332 km/h smash (206 mph) by Fu Haifeng of China in 2005 was the fastest smash ever recorded.

Here are the top five speeds released by the Hawk-Eye data:
Men’s Singles:
Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) 408kmh (Hong Kong Open 2015)
Jan O Jorgensen (Denmark) 407kmh (Malaysia Open 2016)
Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) 404kmh (Japan Open 2015)
Parupalli Kashyap (India) 401kmh (Japan Open 2015)
Lin Dan (China) 401kmh (Japan Open 2015)
Women’s Singles:
Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) 372kmh (Malaysia Open 2016)
Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan) 360kmh (All England 2016)
Wang Yihan (China) 359kmh (Malaysia Open 2016)
Saina Nehwal (India) 357kmh (All England 2016)
Carolina Marin (Spain) 356kmh (All England 2016)

Indonesia eyeing Thomas Cup victory

Indonesia’s Thomas Cup team dreams big as it locks its target on bringing home the trophy again after its last victory in 2002 at the upcoming Thomas and Uber Finals team competition, starting this weekend.

The squad nonetheless received no intensified training regime on account of efforts to earn points for the Summer Olympics.

“Winning the Thomas Cup is our aim. I’m not putting pressure [on the team], but historically we’ve won it 13 times.
“Besides, in India [the men’s team] managed to tackle Japan,” Rexy Mainaky, sports development head for the Indonesian Badminton Association ( PBSI ), told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.
Rexy was referring to the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Hyderabad, India, in mid-February, during which Indonesia knocked out Japan 3-2 to win the event. The Indian victory boosted team morale ahead of the finals, which will run on May 15-22 in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.
Amid high expectations, Rexy said that the men’s shuttlers did not undergo special training as they had participated in a number of Super Series-grade tournaments in their pursuit of points for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in August.
Super Series tournaments taking place after Hyderabad were the All England, where Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto won the mixed doubles division; India Super Series ( Markus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo won the men’s doubles division ); Malaysia Open ( Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir won mixed doubles ); Singapore Open ( Sony Dwi Kuncoro nailed the men’s singles, Greysia Polii and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari were awarded the women’s doubles title ); and, Badminton Asia Championships in China ( Tontowi and Liliyana finished as runners-up in mixed doubles ).
“[The shuttlers] are 100 percent ready [although they] didn’t have much time [for focused grooming] as they were busy with the tournaments,” said Rexy, adding that getting in a quick recovery was more important for the shuttlers in between events.
In the finals, Indonesia’s men’s team sits in Group B along with India, Hong Kong and Thailand. Indonesia is the top-seed in the group.
Meanwhile, the Uber team has been a given a realistic aim in the Kunshan showdown: reaching the quarterfinals.
“I’m not underestimating the Uber team. Facing Thailand is a tough task,” said Rexy.
The Indonesian women’s squad is in Group C along with the group’s top-seed Thailand, Hong Kong and Bulgaria.
“It will be good enough for us if we can be a runner-up in the group and advance to the quarterfinals,” said Rexy, manager of the Indonesian Thomas and Uber teams.
 Indonesia’s Uber team experienced peak play when it won the event in 1989. Since then, the team has only made it to runner-up position in 1991, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005 and 2007.
The strongest Uber team is China with 10 victories between 1995 and 2015. Greysia will be paired with Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah as Nitya is injured.
“As a new pair, we surely will have flaws. But on the other hand, opponents are blind to our strength,” said team captain Greysia.
In the meantime, 10 Indonesian shuttlers have secured spots in the Summer Olympics. They are Tommy Sugiarto in men’s singles, Lindaweni Fanetri in women’s singles, Hendra Setiawan and Muhammad Ahsan in men’s doubles, Greysia and Nitya in women’s doubles, Tontowi and Liliyana as well as Praveen and Debby in mixed doubles.
-- Niken Prathivi, Jakarta Post

Lee Chong Wei confident Malaysia is ready for Thomas Cup success

Malaysian badminton maestro Lee Chong Wei has urged his Thomas Cup teammates to show their fighting spirit in the Thomas Cup finals that will be held in Kunshan, China from May 15 to 22.

Malaysia was runners-up in the 2014 edition after brushing aside Indonesia 3-0 in the semi-finals to make their first appearance in the finals after 12 years.

However, the Malaysian team were left licking their wounds after falling short in the final, losing to Japan 2-3 at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, India.
"We should compete without pressure and play with nothing to lose. The Malaysian players should give their very best in Kunshan," said Lee.
While talking to reporters at a wedding ceremony, he admitted that countries such as China, Denmark, and South Korea would pose existential threats to Malaysia at the 2016 Thomas Cup.
"China has Chen Long, Lin Dan and Tian Houwei, while Viktor Axelsen, Jan Jorgensen and Hans-Kristian Vittinghus are three very good men's singles players in the world, therefore, we cannot underestimate them," added Lee.
"Furthermore, our top two men's doubles players, namely Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong and Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong are likely tired from a demanding Olympic qualifying schedule."
In the 2016 Malaysia Thomas Cup squad, World No. 52 Wei Feng was named at the expense of world No. 41 Zulfadli Zulkiffli to join Lee Chong Wei, Iskandar Zulkarnain and Goh Soon Huat in the singles department. Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong, Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong as well as Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin have been selected as doubles pairs in the Thomas Cup squad.
The last time Malaysia won the Thomas Cup was on May 16 1992, when the Malaysian team beat Indonesia 3-2 in a pulsating final.

Indonesia men's team in training camp to prepare for Thomas Cup

In their bid to prepare for the Thomas Finals that will be held in Kunshan, China from May 15 to May 22, 2016, the Indonesian team will put their focus on diversifying their strategies, and patterns of play.

After a training session with the Indonesian players in Jakarta, Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) men's singles head coach Hendri Saputra told reporters that they are enhancing mental toughness, and physical toughness of their shuttlers, while working on appropriate game strategies against different opponents at the tournament.

"Jonatan Christie, Ihsan Maulana and Anthony Ginting are diversifying their playing styles to target different challenges they could possible face on the court," said Saputra.
"If the shuttlecocks used in Kunshan are slower than of those used in training, they should switch to a long rally of play," added Saputra.
"We should be prepare and should never be caught off guard by our opponents in the group stage. But I'm still optimistic that our shuttlers are ready to step up to the plate especially after we came out triumphant at the Thomas Cup qualifying."
Indonesia has been grouped in Group B together with Hong Kong, India, and Thailand in the Group stage of Thomas Cup finals.
The Thomas Cup matches are made up of three singles and two doubles. The top two teams in each group will go into the knock-out stages.

Jakarta: World No. 8 Indonesian shuttler Tommy Sugiarto will get to play at the highest level of international badminton championships this August when he was listed as one of the 10 Indonesian badminton players who will take part in the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

"According to the latest World Badminton Federation (BWF) rankings, 10 of our badminton players have qualified for the Rio Olympic Games," said general chairman Gita Wirjawan.

In addition to Tommy Sugiarto who has earned his Olympic berth in men's single, Linda Wenifanetri also clinched a spot in the women’s singles event.
After his first gold medal win in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Markis Kido, Hendra Setiawan who will be aiming for his second Olympic gold medal with Mohammad Ahsan in Rio. In mixed doubles, both Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir and Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto have qualified for the event.
Greysia Polii who became one of eight women doubles players that were disqualified for "tanking" at the 2012 London Olympics, made a successful comeback with Nitya Krishinda Maheswari in Rio after the major career setback in London.
Indonesia has set a lofty target for the 2016 Olympics of winning golds in the men's doubles and mixed doubles. It is also possible for Indonesia to clinch golds in men's singles and women's doubles if the Indonesian shuttlers can achieve their extraordinary level of performance.

Japan to send nine badminton players to Rio Olympics

After Japanese World No. 1 women's doubles pair Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo defeated Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao 21-13, 21-15 in an all-Japan women’s badminton doubles final at the Asian Championships, Takahashi/Matsutomo have been named among the nine Japanese shuttlers who clinched their spots in all five disciplines at the Rio Olympics

Fukuman and Yonao, ranked ninth in the world, could have joined their top-ranked compatriots at this summer’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a win if Japan instructed their players to play the "Li Yongbo style" badminton when Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo handed the Asian Championships title to Fukuman/Yonao via walkovers or retired from the match. Instead, both pairs fought hard with a lot of energy in the final, until Takahashi/Matsutomo finally emerged victorious in 53 minutes.
Heading Japan's men's singles list will be Sho Sasaki, replacing fourth-ranked Kento Momota who was removed from the rankings after he received an indefinite suspension last month for gambling at an illegal casinos in Japan.
Sasaki will be the only Japanese shuttler to take part in two successive Summer Games this time. Seventh-ranked pair Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa clinched the berth in the men’s doubles.
World No. 5 Nozomi Okuhara, and World No. 11 18-year-old Akane Yamaguchi have filled up the 2 slots in women's singles.
Kenta Kazuno and Ayane Kurihara also confirmed their qualification after they were ranked World No. 18 in the latest world rankings.

USA to send a record seven badminton players to Rio Olympics

USA: A record of seven shuttlers from USA have made it to the Rio Olympics based on Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) final allocation in all five disciplines

In men's singles, World No. 64 Howard Shu, who is at 32nd place in race to Rio qualification, will carry the USA flag, while Phillip Chew and Jamie Subandhi become the first USA mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics.

Eva Lee, who had represented USA at the London Games, will play her second Olympics in women's doubles competition with Paula Lynn Obanana, they are 16th in the race to Rio qualification.
In the women’s singles, Iris Wang will be making her Olympic debut in Rio while Sattawat Pongnairat and Phillip Chew will compete in the men's doubles event.
No USA player has never made it past quarterfinals in the badminton event at any Olympics.

ivan sozonov injured

China fill maximum slots for the 2016 Olympic

After winning two out of five gold medals offered at the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) on Sunday, China has enough or in some categories, more than enough shuttlers to secure the maximum Olympic quota slots allocated for each country

Unlike the previous Olympics, in the 2016 Rio Games, each nation could only enter a maximum of two players in the men's and women's singles events, if both players are ranked in the world's top 16. Otherwise, those positions would be filled until the roster of thirty-eight players has been completed.

In the doubles category, each country could only enter a maximum of two pairs if both are ranked in the top eight, while the remaining countries are entitled to one until the quota of 16 highest-ranked pairs is filled.
Technically, China has 4 players that could qualify for the men's singles event in Rio, with Chen Long being the World No. 1, followed by Lin Dan at World No. 3, Tian Houwei and Wang Zhengming at World No. 6 and World No. 13 respectively. However, it's obvious that only Chen Long and Lin Dan would be selected to play in Rio.
Nevertheless, it's going to be a tough call for women's singles, with up to 5 shuttlers ranked in the World top 16. As rumors swirl, World No. 5 Wang Shixian could be dropped from the Chinese Olympic team yet again in favor of World No. 6 Wang Yihan who just won the BAC title on Sunday.
Chinese Chief coach Li Yongbo had replaced Wang Shixian once with young shuttler Li Xuerui in the 2012 London Olympic squad, and he may do it again after his decision proved correct when Li won the London Olympics gold medal.
"I have yet to decide who would go to Rio, I am going to take their world rankings, their ability to play against foreign players, and their performances in the last several tournaments into my consideration," said Li Yongbo.
It's much easier to decide outright who would go to Rio in men's doubles because the current World No. 4 Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan and World No. 5 pair Chai Biao/Hong Wei are the only options for China.
Former World No. 1 and current World No. 7 pair Luo Ying/Luo Yu sisters may be dropped from the Chinese Olympic team as World No. 3 Tang Yuanting/Yu Yang and World No. 4 Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei are viewed as the pairs are most likely to win the women’s doubles gold medals at the Rio Olympics.
China also has some difficult roster decisions to make in the mixed doubles before Olympic, when it has to pick two out of three pairs between World No. 1 Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei, World No. 4 Xu Chen/Ma Jin, and World No. 6 Liu Cheng/Bao Yixin.
"We have succeeded to get the maximum berth in each categories for the Rio Olympics, and I really appreciate our players' hard works," said Li.
Although China is the only country in the world to successfully fill the maximum positions allocated to each country, Chinese players are overall weaker than they were four years ago at the London Olympics, and gold medals in every categories are up for grabs.

Kento Momota, Kenichi Tago officially removed from BWF rankings

Although Japanese young badminton star Kento Momota who has been denied a spot on Japan’s team for this summer’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics after receiving an indefinite suspension from the Nippon Badminton Association on April 10, 2016 for his visit to an illegal casino, but he hadn’t officially been removed from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Ranking, until this Thursday.

Both Kento Momota and Kenichi Tago, 26, have admitted to gambling at casinos in Japan, and were officially removed from the latest BWF standings released by BWF as of April 28th.

The removal followed confirmation by the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA) that both players have been suspended for more than a year. NBA had also clarified that instead of suspending both players "indefinitely", the suspension will probably "exceed a year".
According to what BWF Council agreed two years ago, players who were suspended for more than a year would be removed from all rankings.
Besides Momota and Tago, BWF also removed an USA shuttler Zhang Beiwen and Australian player Setyana Mapasa from its Olympic Qualification Rankings for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, due to their ineligibility to represent their respective adopted countries.
Zhang Beiwen was born in China but moved to Singapore at the age of 13 in the year 2003. She played with the Singapore National Team until 2012. In 2013, she moved to the USA with her parents.
As for Setyana Mapasa, she went to Australia to seek medical treatment for her knee injury in 2012. Since then, she has since been partnering with Gronya Somerville to become one of the top women's doubles pair in Australia.
Fortunately, these two players still get to maintain their positions on the BWF World Rankings.
In the absence of Kento Momota, the next highest ranked Japanese player - Sho Sasaki was selected to replace Momota in Rio.

Lee Chong Wei beats Chen Long to win BAC title

Malaysian badminton maestro Lee Chong Wei celebrated his fourth consecutive victories against World No. 1 Chen Long of China by beating the Chinese shuttler in the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) final to regain his second BAC title in Wuhan, China on Sunday.
In the enthralling first set, Lee who won the BAC title in 2006, put on a furious fightback after trailing 11-15 to overtake Chen Long and wrapped up the set 21-17.

Chen Long started the second set more aggressively, and was able to summon every ounce of strength and determination to deny Lee 15-21 and to force a decider.

Having lost the second set to Chen Long, Lee hit back with lightning-fast pace and attacked his opponent with deadly pinpoint accuracy. After the interval, Lee took advantage of an impatience Chen Long who has committed several unforced errors, racing to close out the 82 minutes match with a 21-13 win in the rubber set.

Lee took home USD15,000 (about RM58,702) as the men's champion

In the women's singles, China's Wang Yihan prevailed over top seed and compatriot Li Xuerui 21-14, 13-21, 21-16 in an hour, clinching her third Asian title. This victory was also very critical for the 28-year-old Wang Yihan, as this tournament could give her an advantage over compatriot Wang Shixian when deciding who could represent China in the Rio Olympics.

Meanwhile, South Korean top seeded pair of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong got the better of China's Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen 21-14, 28-26 in 58 minutes to win the men's doubles title

Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi crushed compatriots Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao 21-13, 21-15 in the women's doubles final in 53 minutes.

The mixed doubles title went to the top seeded Chinese combination of Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, who saw off Indonesian second seeds Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 16-21, 21-9, 21-17 in an hour and one minute.
Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) offers a total prize money of USD200,000 (about RM782,700).

Viktor Axelsen & Carolina Marin clinch European Championship title

Denmark's rising badminton star World No. 4 Viktor Axelsen battled past compatriot and defending champion Jan O Jorgensen to clinch his first ever continental crown at the Badminton European Championships in France on Sunday.

Axelsen defeated the top seeded Jan O. Jorgensen in a fairly one-sided match with 21-11, 21-16 in 38 minutes.

In the women's singles final, top seed Carolina Marin prevailed over second seed Kirsty Gilmour 21-12, 21-18 in 43 minutes. It was the world champion Carolina Marin's second European Badminton Championships after triumphs in 2015.
Denmark's Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding came out as the winner in the men's doubles event after successfully defeating compatriots Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in three games 14-21, 21-18, 21-13 in the men's doubles final.
Meanwhile, Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen and Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl emerged as champions in mixed doubles and women's doubles.