TUC 2010 Team Nominations – Surprise, surprise

For Denmark, the name of Kenneth Jonassen was put down the list.  It is difficult to know whether the tall Dane – currently head coach for Denmark but soon to be moving to England – will be fielded at some point, but his world ranking would put him in a third position and his experience could play in crucial ties against any country.

Korea suffers a huge blow for the Thomas Cup as Lee Yong Dae will not make the trip to Kuala Lumpur.  Head Coach Kim Joong Soo told Badzine earlier this month that Lee’s particupation was uncertain and that Korea’s real focus in 2010 was the Guangzhou Asian Games (see article here). However, the Koreans have added a surprise name as well: Lee Hyun Il, who retired from international play, has been marked down the list. He also could be a stunning third men’s singles.

In the Uber Cup, Wang Lin is not fielded for China in spite of her experience and lofty ranking. Relative newcomers Wang Xin and Wang Shixian were prefered to the former world no. 1 to back Wang Yihan and Jiang Yanjiao.

Lee Hyo Jung will be part of the Uber Cup team for Korea even if she’s focused on mixed doubles these days and she could be pairing again with Lee Kyung Won, also part of the team.  The same tactic figured in two Thomas Cup teams as well, where both Denmark and Indonesia are sending their mixed specialists – Thomas Laybourn and Nova Widianto respectively – to Kuala Lumpur.

No major surprises elsewhere where the very best will be there in Kuala Lumpur in less than three weeks now.