While the Sudirman Cup promises jaw-dropping action from the world’s best mixed teams, Group C is bound to be a hot contested fight for the top spot.
After sneak-peeks into
Group A and
Group B, we now move onto what has been regarded by many badminton fans as “the group of death” — it is not surprising as Group C includes no other than Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, and India, as well as Australia.
The TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 kicks off this Sunday already and will last for a whole week until Sunday 21 May. Group C will already have their first matches on the opening day, with Chinese Taipei facing India and Malaysia facing Australia, both in the morning session.
Despite being named as the toughest group, none of the teams that make up Group C have ever reached the Sudirman Cup finals.
India have found a balance, recently performing well in team events. The nation had their historic moment at the 2022 Thomas Cup by winning the title. Most recently, India reached the semifinals for the first time ever at the 2023 Asia Mixed Team Championships.
Malaysia will find their strengths in men’s singles and in the doubles. After two consecutive bronze medals in the All England and Swiss Open, Lee Zii Jia will be ready to fight for points for his team, while Ng Tze Yong will also be a strong player for the men’s singles. Ong Yew Sin / Teo Ee Yi and Goh Soon Huat / Shevon Jemie Lai will be looking to repeat their good recent results on the World Tour.
Despite being the dark horse of Group C, Australia will be putting out their best line-up possible. They will be relying on some of their top strengths, including Gronya Somerville who can aid the Australian side in both the women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Chinese Taipei will be ready to take on the biggest mixed event in the world with their top stars. Premier performers Chou Tien Chen and Tai Tzu Ying will be key figures in the singles events while Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin and Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han are their standout performers in the men’s doubles — on the other hand, fellow Group C opponents might be eyeing up at their not-so-strong women’s doubles and mixed doubles candidates.
Find below the full squads for the teams in Group B:
Malaysia
Male players: Cheng Tang Jie, Aaron Chia, Goh Soon Huat, Hoo Pang Ron, Lee Zii Jia, Ng Tze Yon, Ong Yew Sin, Soh Wooi Yik, Tan Kian Meng, Teo Ee Yi.
Female players: Go Pei Kee, Goh Jin Wei, Lai Pei Jing, Lai Shevon Jemie, Karupathevan Letshanaa, Valeree Siow, Pearly Tan, Teoh Mei Xing, Thinaah Muralitharan, Toh Ee Wei.
Chinese Taipei
Male players: Chou Tien Chen, Lee Yang, Lu Ching Yao, Wang Chi-Lin, Wang Tzu Wei, Yang Po Han, Yang Po-Hsuan, Hong Wei Ye
Female players: Wen Chi Hsu, Hsu Ya Ching, Hu Ling Fang, Lee Chia Hsin, Lin Wan Ching, Tai Tzu Ying, Teng Chun Hsun.
India
Male players: M.R. Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, Kidambi Srikanth, Prannoy H. S., Prateek .K Sai, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty
Female players: Tanisha Crasto, Treesa Jolly, Ponnappa Ashwini, Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, Pusarla V. Sindhu, Anupama Upadhyaya
Australia
Male players: Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo, Nathan Tang, Ricky Tang, Rayne Wang, Jack Yu
Female players: Kaitlyn Ea, Sydney Go, Tiffany Ho, Gronya Somerville, Angela Yu