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China’s badminton chiefs have banned their shuttlers from sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur to safeguard them from bird flu ahead of next week’s Thomas and Uber Cups.

The Chinese men’s and women’s teams are strong favorites to retain their prestigious titles when the tournaments wrap up on May 16, and head coach Li Yongbo told reporters the players had been instructed to stay safely locked up unless they were playing or training.

“The players have been told to stay in their rooms. They are only allowed to go to the training venue and to Putra Stadium,” Li said during a pre-competition media conference.

“We have brought our own medical team with us and are taking all sorts of precautions to ensure none of us catch the virus,” he said.

Two of Malaysia’s coaches — Misbun and Rashid Sidek — were both treated for the H1N1 virus but have since been given a clean bill of health.

China boasts world and Olympic champion Lin Dan as its top singles player in the men’s Thomas Cup. He will be joined by Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai and Chen Long.

For the doubles, China has named former world number ones Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen and Chai Biao-Zhang Nan.

The Chinese women’s team features world No. 1 Wang Yihan, second-ranked Wang Xin and fourth-ranked Wang Shixian.

“We came here prepared to retain both Cups and that is just what we intend to do,” Li said.

“I’m confident the teams have it in them to face all comers. We should be standing tall on May 16.” 

Reuters