Already one of the world's dominant forces in badminton, the Chinese are now confident that its athletes in the Para version can be just as successful as they prepare to compete alongside more than 200 players from 37 countries.

Their medal hopes rest with wheelchair players Mai Jianpeng and Wang Ping, who will compete in the men's and women's WH1 sport class respectively and will also team up for the mixed doubles.

Wang, fresh from a golden treble at the China Para-Badminton International in May, could prove a threat to Switzerland’s Karin Suter-Erath, a star performer in the class.

"I am very happy to be at the World Championships this year and I’m excited to start the tournament,” she said.

Other players expected to do well at the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement are Korea's Lee Sun Ae, winner of three gold medals at the 2013 Championships in Dortmund, Germany.

Her mixed doubles partner Kim Kyunghoon will also be looking to improve upon his two golds and one silver from two years ago.

Having won three golds in SS 6 in Dortmund, the hosts will again seek to showcase their superiority in the Short Stature category, with the likes of Rebecca Bedford, Rachel Choong, Krysten Coombs, Isaak Dalglish, Andrew Martin and Jack Shephard listed among England’s 21-member squad.

The BWF's vice-president for Para-Badminton, Paul Kurzo, is anticipating a good competition between tomorrow and Sunday (August 13) with the sport preparing for its Paralympic debut in five years time. 

He said: "We are obviously getting more attention now that Para-badminton will be part of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and, as these are the first World Championships since that announcement, I expect our athletes will be especially eager to impress and make a name for themselves.

“We have a number of competitors who are well known in Para-badminton circles but, as always, there may be upsets and surprise performances.

"This event has a good blend of talent from around the world and that is a positive sign as we continue to grow Para-badminton towards Tokyo 2020.”


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