SINGAPORE OPEN 2010 – Happy Koreans return to competition

Raphaël Sachetat with IMSG PR – Photos – Rights reserved (IMSG)

Pictures sometimes tell it all. The Uber Cup winners from Korea (photo) were defintely happy to be back on court for the Li-Ning Singapore Open, which kicks off tomorrow in the Singapore Indoor Stadium with the qualification rounds.

Lee Hyo Jung, Kim Min Jung and their team-mates had all come to the press conference  on Monday to show the world they were ready to take on their new status of giant killers, especially in the absence of China’s best shuttlers, apart from Lu Lan and Li Xuerui. Yet, Korea’s head coach Kim Joong Soo doesn’t expect too much from this competition after the amazing run from his girls in Kuala Lumpur last month.

“They will do their best as they didn’t really prepare for this event, but we expect the shuttlers in the men’s doubles category to do well.“

Top seed Lee Chong Wei will try to stay undefeated in the Super Series this year after he won the first three legs in Malaysia, Korea and the All England before skipping the Swiss Open. But the world number one takes this event as a good warm-up for his targets to come.

“I will be using the tournament as practice for the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games as I have just recovered from an injury in my right knee. Whether Lin Dan is participating in this tournament or not will not make a difference to me,”  he said. Lin Dan and his team-mates are currently involved in the China league, which makes Lee Chong Wei the big favourite to take the crown, even if Peter Gade, Boonsak Ponsana will be out there to contest Lee’s supremacy this week.

The Singaporean squad (photo) had also made a public appearance with new names in the squad after the retirement of Jiang Yanmei – a happy mother of a baby Nathon – as well as  Li Yujia, Kendrick Lee and Ronald Susilo.