Two former men’s singles medallists to miss Worlds

Lee Chong Wei and Son Wan Ho have both decided to withdraw from the 2018 World Championships. Within a week of the kickoff of the 2018 BWF World Championships in […]

Lee Chong Wei and Son Wan Ho have both decided to withdraw from the 2018 .

Within a week of the kickoff of the 2018 BWF World Championships in Nanjing, 2 of the top 4 men’s singles seeds have had to back out of the tournament.  On July 25th, it was 3-time runner-up Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.   The Star reported that Lee had missed training and that the Badminton Association of Malaysia finally announced that a respiratory illness would sideline the 35-year-old star for both the Worlds and the .

The next day, the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) announced their Nanjing contingent, minus 2017 bronze medallist Son Wan Ho.  In late June, Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that a calf had resulted in Son retiring from the Malaysia Open.  BKA sources were quoted as saying that the wasn’t serious but that Son’s condition would be monitored at the Indonesia Open, where he also ended up conceding a very brief opening match.

Last week, Yonhap announced Korea’s entire Asian Games squad and included Son Wan Ho but he was not on the list for the Worlds in Nanjing on Thursday.  The Korean team will be extremely small, with only Sung Ji Hyun and two pairs heading for China.  Singles players Jeon Hyeok Jin and Lee Jang Mi already among the many Koreans whose Nanjing invitations were rejected by the BKA.  Lee is actually now off the national team, as are the injured Lee Yu Rim and the retired Kim Ha Na, while three replacements have been brought on.

Photo: Badmintonphoto

Don Hearn

About Don Hearn

Don Hearn is an Editor and Correspondent who hails from a badminton-loving town in rural Canada. He joined the Badzine team in 2006 to provide coverage of the Korean badminton scene and is committed to helping Badzine to promote badminton to the place it deserves as a global sport. Contact him at: don @ badzine.net