CHENGDU: China have a formidable team in this edition’s Thomas Cup Finals and will be looking to reclaim the title at home in the land of panda bears.
Chengdu is more famous for the cute, cuddly bears than badminton but that will not stop the home team from going for the title they last won in 2018 in Bangkok.
The 12,000 capacity Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center will hold an international badminton tournament for the first time and the hosts will be out to capitalise on the strength of the likes of singles world No. 2 Shi Yuqi and world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in front of their passionate fans.
A disappointing outing in the last edition in 2022 in Bangkok where the 10-time winners lost out 0-3 to Indonesia will be an added motivation for the team to go all the way this time.
That time, the team were in transition while Yuqi was serving a 10-month ban imposed by the Chinese Badminton Association (CBA) for misconduct and subsequently had a tame outing by their high standards.
Now, the emergence of Li Shifeng, who captured gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games and All-England last year along with Yuqi coming back strongly after the ban has put China in a much stronger position.
The hosts can also call on world No. 16 Weng Hongyang or world No. 19 Lu Guangzu in the third singles while Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi (No. 8) and He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (No. 11) are some of the best second doubles pairs among the teams in the tournament.
China’s main challengers for the title are likely to be 14-time winners Indonesia, Japan and defending champions India.
The Chinese have been placed in Group A along with South Korea, Australia and Canada and should easily make it into the quarter-finals.
The pandas will take a backseat for badminton fans worldwide as all eyes will be on the action in the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center until the final on May 5.
