The Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) next week (Feb 11-16) is set to host some of the continent’s biggest stars. Stadium Astro highlights some of the top shuttlers to keep an eye out for.
Chen Yu Fei (China)
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The 2020 Olympic gold medalist has not played since last featuring at the Paris Olympics where she lost in the quarter-finals.
Since then, the Chinese women's singles ace took a long vacation in Australia where she also attended English classes.
Chen also thought about retirement, but the national team wanted her to stay on.
Now the 26-year-old is set to make her long-awaited comeback and it will be fascinating to see how she fares against Chinese Taipei and Singapore.
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Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai (Malaysia)
The husband-wife were not part of the 2023 squad, but made it to this one as one of the most consistent pairs in the team.
Goh-Lai are currently ranked fourth, the highest in their mixed doubles careers.
They have improved so much since last year where they won the Swiss Open and Malaysia Masters, besides reaching the China Open final.
The pair's quality and experience could prove the difference for Malaysia if the scores are tied heading into the final match.
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Wang Chi-lin (Chinese Taipei)
Wang has rubber stamped his name as one of the most successful men’s doubles shuttler in the modern era after winning two Olympic gold medals with his former partner Lee Yang.
While Lee has hung up his racquet, Wang carries on with plenty left in the tank.
Still only 30, the imposing 6ft 2 in shuttler is a menacing opponent not only due to his physique, but also his versatility and agility in every section of the court.
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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (India)
This entertaining Indian men’s pair are due a long-awaited title, and it may just come at the BAMTC.
Solid all around with great offense and defence, this world number seven combination are brilliant readers of the game and can play tricky mind games with their opponents during crucial points.
Added with their iconic dance celebrations after winning titles, Rankireddy-Shetty are certainly ones to look out for.
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Sapsiree Taerratanachai (Thailand)
Fondly known as 'Popor', this Thai mixed doubles specialist finds herself in transition with a new partner in Supak Jomkoh.
While the results have yet to materialize with Jomkoh, there is no doubting Taerratanachai's class.
With her former partner Dechapol Puavaranukroh, the 32-year-old achieved plenty of success including the 2021 World Championships title and 17 World Tour silverwares.
