Strong line-up for Asian badminton championships

AFP, April, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — The best shuttlers in the world have confirmed they will play at the Asian Badminton Championships next week -- the last tournament in Asia offering ranking points for Olympic qualification.

The entry lists, released Thursday, show eight of the world's top 10 men will be in action, led by China's Lin Dan and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei.

Also in the fray will be China's All-England champion Chen Jin, his team-mate Bao Chunlai and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.

The top five women will also play, spearheaded by Lin's girlfriend Xie Xingfang and her Chinese team-mates Ning Zhang and Lan Lu.

While most of the big names have already qualified for Beijing in August, they will be using the championships starting Tuesday in...