China names strong squad for Thomas and Uber Cup

BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Badminton powerhouse China announced its teams for the upcoming BWF Thomas & Uber Cup, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from May 20-27.

The current Olympic champion Chen Long is included in the men's singles list along with two-time Olympic winner Lin Dan and newly-crowned New-England champions Shi Yuqi and Qiao Bin.

The men's doubles list consists of world number three Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan, world number four Li Junhui and Liu Yucheng, and Zheng Siwei and Wang Yilyu. All three pairs reached the semifinals at the recently concluded Asia Championships.

The Chinese women's team, the three-time title holders, include three youth propsects: Chen Yufei, He Bingjiao and Gao Fangjie. 2012 London Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui, will also return to the team.

World No. 1 Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan will lead the Chinese team in the women's doubles section along with two other pairs of Tang Jinhua and Huang Yaqiong and Huang Dongping and Zheng Yu.

The Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup tournaments both feature 16 teams divided into four groups. China is drawn into Group A in the Thomas Cup, along with India, Australia and France.

In the Uber Cup, the defending champions will hpoe they can lift the trophy for the 15th time. Enditem