Badminton Asia Championships to kick off in April in Wuhan

WUHAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Badminton Asia Championships will be held in in central Chinese city of Wuhan from April 24-29.

All of the top players from across Asia are expected to take part in this year's tournament, which will serve as a test event ahead of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, said Kim Hong-Ki, general secretary of Badminton Asia, the sport's governing body in Asia.

Nearly 300 shuttlers from more than 20 Asian nations and regions - including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India - will compete for championship titles in men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, according to the organizers.

"The Chinese national team is in the middle of a reshuffle that focuses on the training of young athletes," said Zhao Yunlei, London Olympics gold medalist and now coach of the Chinese national team, adding that she hopes the public will pay more attention to the young athletes and encourage them to do better.

Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, has hosted the Asian Badminton Championships for three consecutive years from 2015-17, and will be home to Badminton Asia's flagship tournament until 2020.