Korea names young singles squad

Korean singles shuttlers (from left) Kim Hyo Min, Lee Min Ji, Lee Dong Keun

Tryouts were held this week for the singles spots on the Korean National Badminton Team and of the twenty successful shuttlers who have now been named, only one woman and two men are over the age of twenty-three.

Veteran Kang Hae Won, winner of the Summer Championships last year, was exempted from the tryouts, as were world #5 Sung Ji Hyun and world #13 Bae Yeon Ju but 46 others went through an extensive regimen of fitness tests as well as a lengthy round robin tournament.

Team selections took in to account tournament performance, fitness, body type, and mental fortitude.  In the selection tournament, the big winners were Hwasun Grand Prix Gold winner Lee Dong Keun, who went 11-0 against his toughest team-mates, and the two youngest girls in the final selection, 17-year-olds Kim Min Ji and Kim Hyo Min, who were both 12-1 and who met in two international junior finals last year.

The two veteran men’s singles shuttlers are Hwang Jong Soo and Hong Ji Hoon but fellow 24-year-old Son Wan Ho is still in training with the military team and he and Yoo Yeon Seong will not be returning to the national team until a later date.

Of the twenty players, only Bae and Sung are scheduled to compete in the upcoming All England and German and Swiss Opens.

2013 Korean singles squads