PETALING JAYA: World No. 4 Juliane Schenk may have opted out of the World Championships, but she’s still keeping a close eye on the women’s singles event.
The fiery German had a fallout with the German Badminton Association (DBV) and quit to be on her own last month.
But Schenk, who is in Malaysia as a sparring partner for Sonia Cheah and Tee Jing Yi, has not lost interest in the sport.
In fact, she’s been keeping a close tab on the progress of other women shuttlers and is even tipping Thai teen sensation Ratchanok Intanon to stun the world – and China – and win the world title. The World Championships will be held in Guangzhou, China, from Aug 5-11.
“China, as the hosts, will definitely have the advantage and always do well when it comes to major events like the World Championships or the Olympics,” said Schenk, who is one of the few players to have beaten all the top Chinese shuttlers.
“But I believe that this year will be different ... the world meet will be a more open affair, even if I’m not competing.
“You can see from the matches that the quality has improved and matches are now 40 minutes to an hour long. It shows that the rest of the world are closing the gap on China.
“Countries like Thailand, India and also Japan are improving very fast and will heap pressure on China, especially since they will be on home ground.
“I definitely believe that it will not be a one-sided affair because the world meet is different compared to the Super Series events as each country can only have a limited number of players competing. That should trim China’s advantage.
“Personally, I’m rooting for Intanon because she’s my favourite player. She came close to winning the All-England. Perhaps, this time she’ll come away with the world title.”
World No. 5 Intanon lost in the All-England final to Denmark’s Tine Baun but claimed her first Super Series title at the India Open in April.
To win the world title, Intanon will have to overcome the challenges of reigning Olympic champion and world No. 1 Li Xuerui, world No. 2 Wang Yihan as well as India’s world No. 3 Saina Nehwal.
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