Korea: According to Yonhap News Agency, the 34-year-old South Korean badminton veteran Lee Hyun-il had been included into Korean team in preparation for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games this September.
Lee Hyun-il has already officially retired from badminton N times was called back to the Korea national squad due to disappointing performance of South Korean badminton team in last May’s Thomas Cup where they lost to Indonesia 2-3 in quarter-finals. Badminton Korea Association (BKA) stated that the move was primarily aimed at strengthening the Korean’s chances in men’s team competition.
Lee has always been remarkable in men’s team event. He competed in the 2002 Asian Games, and eventually helped Korea won their first men’s team gold medal since 1986; Although the South Korean team eventually lost to Chinese team in the 2006 Doha Asian Games men’s team final, but he was able to steal a point from China by defeating Lin Dan 22-20, 11–21, 21–13; Lee and his teammates were once again won a silver medal of men’s team event in the Guangzhou Asian Games four years ago.
In addition to Lee Hyun-il, BKA also added youngster to the roster while the relatively more experienced Park Sung Min and Hwang Jong Soo were dropped from the team; In the women’s team, 18-year-old Kim Hyo Minand the Canada Open semi-finalist Ko Eun Byul were added to the women’s singles list to serve as backup shuttler for its star players Sung Ji Hyun and Bae Yeon Ju.
