Mulheim: To avoid the coronavirus outbreak and to make themselves eligible for all future international tournaments, the Chinese national badminton team has flown to University of Nottingham, UK, in mid Feb to prepare for the now cancelled German Open and next week’s All-England.
According to the Chinese Badminton Association, they will continue to train in foreign country until the Olympic qualification period ends on April 26, 2020.
However, the two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan, current World No. 8 women’s singles player He Bingjiao, China’s men’s singles coach Chen Yu, men’s doubles coach Wang Wei and mixed doubles coach Yang Ming were not able to join the team in UK due to visa problem.
Although the German Open has been cancelled, Lin Dan, He Bingjiao, as well as men’s singles coach Chen Yu, and others have arrived in Germany last week to apply for the British visa there. However, it’s still unclear whether they will be allowed to enter the UK, as they are hoping to be able to make the All England Open that will take place in Birmingham next week.
The Badminton England has released a statement last week that the All England will run as scheduled, but special measures are being implemented at the arena, hotels and the city’s airport to minimize any potential impact of coronavirus.
Due to the absence of some of the coaches, Zhang Jun, and Xia Xuanze, who are now the president and vice-president of the Chinese Badminton Association, have taken the responsibilities as men’s singles and mixed doubles coach, while Yoo Yong-sung took up the task as men’s doubles coach in UK.
The whole Chinese badminton team is currently staying in a hotel inside University of Nottingham. Zhang Jun revealed that the team would mostly to return to China after the end of the Olympic qualification period.
