With only 30 days to go for the cluster tournaments in Thailand, speculations have started as to who will be attending the tournaments. All eyes are on the big names that have entered for the tournaments.
Reigning Olympic champion Chen Long is missing from the Chinese squad that will be at the YONEX Thailand Open that starts 12 January.
The Chinese squad is missing two important players who are both reigning Olympic champions, Chen Long and Zhang Nan.
BWF commentator Steen Pedersen tweeted out his speculation as to why Chen Long is a no-show at Bangkok. He wrote, “Indicates a nasty injury or that he is contemplating retirement.”
Chen Long will turn 32 in January. Speaking from this angle, Pedersen’s query about Chen Long’s retirement seems legitimate. Chen Long has 6 played finals in the last two years and only won 2 titles. His performance is not up to his standard and seems to be struggling to keep up with all the new and younger players.
He is currently ranked 5th in both the world rankings and the Race to Tokyo standings. Would he throw away his standings and give it up toward the end? It seems unlikely. However, with his advancing age and now father to a young son, it might be a possibility.
Only time will tell where Chen Long is.
Here are the top names playing the 2020 YONEX Thailand Open.
Men’s Singles
- Kento Momota
- Chou Tien Chen
- Anders Antonsen
- Viktor Axelsen
- Anthony Ginting
Women’s Singles
- Tai Tzu Ying
- Chen Yu Fei
- Akane Yamaguchi
- Nozomi Okuhara
- Ratchanok Intanon
Men’s Doubles
- Marcus Gideon/Kevin Sukamuljo
- Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan
- Li Jun Hui/Liu Yu Chen
- Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda
- Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe
Women’s Doubles
- Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan
- Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota
- Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara
- Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan
- Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong
Mixed Doubles
- Huang Ya Qiong/Zheng Si Wei
- Huang Dong Ping/Wang Yi Lyu
- Sapsiree Taerattanachai/Dechapol Puavaranukoh
- Melati Daeva Oktavianti/Praveen Jordan
- Arisa Higashino/Yuta Watanabe
