Chinese Taipei: Lin Dan and Chen Long have joined Lee Chong Wei in pulling out from the Chinese Taipei Open which will be held in Taipei from June 28th to July 3rd.
The Chinese Taipei Open has been viewed as a tune-up for the Rio Olympics. However, in order to avoid injury prior to the Olympics, Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long have decided to skip the event.
Malaysia’s women’s singles player Tee Jing Yi also withdrew from the tournament after citing the need for time to prepare for the Olympics.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s women’s doubles pair Vivian Hoo/Woon Khe Wei, men’s pair Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong, and mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying got their chances to compete in Taipei to warm themselves up for the Rio games.
Although China have yet to finalize their two choices for the women’s singles players at the Olympics, there’s a high possibility that Wang Shixian may be left out of China’s Rio Olympics squad again. China did not send the London Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui and current World No. 2 Wang Yihan to Taipei, instead, World No. 8 Wang Shixian will be spearheading a young Chinese women’s squad at the Chinese Taipei Open.
The defending champions for men’s doubles Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan of China, and champions for men’s doubles for mixed doubles Ko Sung-Hyun and Kim Ha-Na of Korea also pulled out of the tournament due to concerns over sustaining unnecessary injuries ahead of Olympics.
