THE South Korean badminton team will no longer have the services of their top men’s singles shuttler Lee Hyun-il in international tournaments.
The runner-up of the Malaysian Open last year has decided to limit his participation in competitive badminton to only club-level tournaments within the country after ending his bachelorhood.
He got married after the Beijing Olympics last August where he bowed out to Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals. South Korean chief coach Kim Jung-soo said that Hyun-il’s absence would be a great loss to the team.
Last year, Hyun-il won the South Korean leg of the Super Series and he played an influential role in helping his country finish as the runners-up for the first time in the Thomas Cup Finals.
“He has chosen to leave the national team after getting married. Now we have to bank on Park Sung-hwan and two other juniors (Hong Ji-hoon and Lee Cheol-ho).