Wang Shixian left out Chinese Olympic badminton squad

Beijing – Women’s World No.4 shuttler, Wang Shixian was left out of China’s London Olympics squad as dark horse, Li Xuerui grabbed the ticket along with Wang Yihan and Wang Xin, on Tuesday.

Women’s singles is the only Olympics badminton event in which four Chinese shuttlers qualified. However, according to Badminton World Federation rules, three must be chosen from among the world top four, reports Xinhua.

Reigning world champion Wang Yihan secured an Olympic ticket by leading China to regain the Uber Cup in May. World No. 2, Wang Xin also staged a good performance in the Uber Cup.

The 21-year-old Li Xuerui, who is on a four-tournament winning streak in the past four months, is a relative newcomer to the traditional three “Wang”s echelon. She surpassed Wang Shixian in the world ranking to enter the top three recently.

Asian Games gold medalist, Wang Shixian suffered a string of poor performances since her shocking loss to German Juliane Schenk at last year’s Sudirman Cup opener.

Chinese head coach, Li Yongbo has emphasized the importance of the results against major rivals, hence Li beat Wang to enter the London Games at last.

At the London Games, China’s three shuttlers will face stiff competition from many opponents, a number which has doubled compared to the Beijing Games, namely India’s world No.5, Saina Nehwal, Germany’s Juliane Schenk, Danish veteran Tine Baun, South Korean Sung Ji Hyun and Thailand’s teenager, Ratchanok Intanon.

In other four events, the star-studded Chinese squad has already been finalized. Superstar Lin Dan is in quest for a record second Olympic men’s singles title. Men’s doubles favorites, Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng will also seek their first Olympic title.

The Olympic badminton competition takes place from 28 July to 5 August at Wembley Arena in north-west London.

The squad of Chinese badminton team is as followed:

Men’s singles: Lin Dan, Chen Long, Chen Jin

Women’s singles: Wang Yihan, Wang Xin, Li Xuerui

Men’s doubles: Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng, Chai Biao/Guo Zhendong

Women’s doubles: Yu Yang/Wang Xiaoli, Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei

Mixed doubles: Zhan Nan/Zhao Yunlei, Xu Chen/Ma Jin