Uber cup loss haunts women
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Chinese head coach Li Yongbo hopes a new leader will emerge from a group of up-and-coming women's singles shuttlers and lead China to another title at the World Championships.
Its chances are good with four players in the draw, all of whom are seeded. In addition to world No 1 Wang Yihan, the other hopefuls include 2010 Malaysia Open winner Wang Xin (seeded third), national champion Wang Lin (seventh) and 2010 Korea and Swiss Open champion Wang Shixian (sixth).
Those youngsters have dominated women's singles since the retirement of Zhang Ning and Xie Xingfang.
"Anyone who wins her first world title will prove herself to be a new leader," said Li, who heads a women's singles team without a world or Olympic champion for the first time since 2003.
"They are all about 20 years old, so they need patience and high-level matches to build up their confidence. I am sure the new backbone for the 2012 London Olympics will emerge among them before next year's Sudirman Cup in May."
Defeat against South Korea in the Uber Cup final in May, a loss that denied China its seventh successive title, is still fresh in the players' minds.
"I feel better and refreshed after a tune-up to recover my form. I will do my best to fight in every game no matter who the opponent is," the top-seeded Wang said.
China is also favored to win a title in women's doubles, having three pairs in the top four of the world rankings. Top seeds Ma Jin and Wang Xiaoli lead the way, along with second-seeded Du Jing and Yu Yang and No 4 seeds Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei.
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