The team managers have sent their final draft to the organisers and we know now exactly which player will be sent to Tokyo. If all the top players are on the list, there were some surprises as well…

Not much surprises in the Chinese team, title holders, who will be sending a wise selection of young and older players, to cope with the pressure of such a big event. Youngsters Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin will be helped by Chen Hong and − this could come as a surprise − Xia Xuanze, who hasn’t won a title for a long while now, yet his lower world ranking and his very good records against some players (Malaysia’s Wong Choong Hann amongst others) could be a reason to bring him along. No surprise in the doubles, with the two pairs Cai/Fu and Guo/Xie, with Zheng Bo as a spare wheel.

 

For Denmark, the surprise was already revealed and Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen will be reunited one last time for this event, as a perfect second double behind the undefeated Erkisen/Larsen. If the top three players were known in singles (Gade, Jonassen, Kaldau), the fourth one came naturally as Joachim Persson has had a tremendous past year, with a Bronze medal in the recent European Champs.

Indonesia will bank on the doubles, with their full squad of 6 players in this speciality, with their leaders, Candra and Sigit, who will make their farewell appearance during this Thomas Cup. Taufik Hidayat, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, and Simon Santoso as expected will be part of the trip, along with an unknown youngster : Markus Wijanu.




No surprises in England with the qualification of Rajiv Ouseph, their promising youngster, nor for the USA (with Tony Gunawan) or Korea, who will field all of their strongest players.
Malaysia comes to Sendai and Tokyo with a full squad as well, with Lee Chong Wei as their leader, and Wong, Hafiz and Kuan as his bodyguards, while Koo/Chan and Lee/Chong will be there for the doubles. South Africa and New Zealand are sending the minimum of players (only 4 and 5 respectively) and other nations (Germany, Japan) will send a wider squad filled with their best players.

The biggest surprise of this announcement is the last name on the Korean’s list : the 2004 retired Ra Kyung Min will be making her big comeback with the team. It is yet to early to say whether the great doubles and mixed legend will be actually fielded on court, but her name on the list is already a psychological boost for her team mates.

Other good news for Korea, the come back from Jun Jae Youn, their former top singles shuttler, who had been injured for more than a year. But Korea will still depend on a very young team to defend their silver medal.

For China, the decision to keep home some of the finest shuttlers must have been a nightmare for Li Yongbo, their team Manager. However, Wang Lin, Zhu Lin and other top flight will wa tch their compatriots on TV as they were not selected − in spite of the latest win from Wang Lin in the China Masters. Zhang Ning, Xie Xingfang were expected, but their third partner will be either Lu Lan or Jiang Yanjiao. No need to behead the double’s team as the top two pairs will make the trip as expected along with Du and Yu, the latest arrival, depriving Zhao Tingting from a change to retain her title.

Singapore will feature only 6 players all together with the hopes to see no injuries stricking. England, with a wider squad, will feature all their top players, who will be once again travelling the planet after a trip to Melbourne, back in Europe for their continental championships and then again in far east Asia this spring.

Strong team also for Germany, while some other nations will feature fairly new players, to gain experience as it if often the case in such competition. Donna Cranston or Renee Flavel will be making their big debuts in a big event like the Uber Cup, for New Zealand, just like Ginny Severien from the Netherlands. But the latter bring the best along, with both Mia and Yao, as expected, a first for the Dutch. Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong will also be sending full squads.