Chinese Taipei and Korea’s Olympics teams officially formed !!

Chinese Taipei’s heroes seek to achieve a historic first

The Chinese Taipei Badminton Association held the “Advancing to the 2012 London Olympics, facing 2013 Taipei Asian Badminton Championships” press conference on May 28. The coaches and players of Chinese Taipei’s Olympics team were in attendance, symbolizing the “official formation” of the team, moreover, a ceremony was held in which ice cubes were smashed with a mallet, representing the hope that the team will achieve a historic breakthrough by winning Chinese Taipei’s first ever Olympic badminton medal at the London Olympic games!

The London Olympics, to be held from the end of July to the beginning of August, will be the first time Chinese Taipei players have qualified for all five badminton disciplines at an Olympic Games (men’s and women’s’ single, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.) Team members Cheng Shao Chieh, Chien Yu Chin and Cheng Wen Hsing are all old hands, while the rest of the players will be at their first Olympic games.

Tai Tzu Ying is still a month short of her 18th birthday and is the youngest player in the Chinese Taipei team;she may be young but she has acquired a lot of international competition experience and even played in the 2012 Uber Cu Final as Chinese Taipei’s top women’s singles player. This will be her first Olympic but everyone can rest assured that she will shine and, as usual, excite the fans.

From the beginning of 2012,  Lee Sheng Mu / Fang Chieh Min, have won the men’s doubles titles at the Malaysia Open, come second at the  Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold and Australia Grand Prix Gold Cup and they are in scintillating form. With one attacking and one defending, they complement each other and are playing better and better together all the time. Let’s wait and see whether the Lee - Min Connection can come good against the world’s best and they can win a medal; they will certainly try their hardest!

Mixed doubles pair Chen Hung Lin / Cheng Wen Hsing, who rank 5th in the world, and women’s doubles pair Cheng Wen Hsing / Chien Yu Chin, who rank 10th,have played at the Olympics before. They are highly experienced, and also skillful and mentally strong. Let’s hope they can lead the younger players to defeat all-comers and win glory for the nation at the London Olympics!

During the press conference, apart from the breaking through the ice ceremony, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association also announced the important news that the 2013 Asia Badminton Championships will be held in Taipei (April 16-21 at the Taipei Dome); this is a breakthrough achievement for Chinese Taipei in world badminton !

The tai chi tiger Clash of the titans

Only China had more players qualify for the Olympics than Korea. Both the finals of the Uber Cup and the Thomas Cup 2012 in Wuhan last week were fought between China and Korea. The players from these two titans of world badminton are destined to battle it out at the Olympics.

Korea will have players competing in all five badminton disciplines at the London Olympics, having two places in the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles, with the mixed doubles the only event in which they have one place; 12 players will compete and try to win as many medals as they can for their country.

Korea’s badminton team for the 2012 London Olympics (photo source: Badminton Time website, Korea)

Top row: Lee Hyun Il (men’s singles 1,) Shon Wan Ho (men’s singles 2,) Jung Jae Sung (men’s doubles 1,) Lee Yong Dae (men’s doubles 1,) Ko Sung Hyun (men’s doubles 2,) Yoo Yeon Seong (men’s doubles 2)

Bottom row: Sung Ji Hyun (women’s singles 1,) Bae Youn Joo (women’s singles 2,) Ha Jung Eun (women’s doubles 1,) Kim Min Jung (women’s doubles 1,) Jung Kyung Eun (women’s doubles 2,) Kim Ha Na(women’s doubles 2.)