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ENGLAND have named their 15-strong playing squad for the 2005 Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championships campaign in Beijing, China, from May 10-15.

The team will be led by manager John Quinn, who will be supported by coaches Yvette Yun Luo, Rexy Mainaky and Andy Wood and physiotherapist John Dennis.

New National women’s singles champion Elizabeth Cann (Jersey) will be making her Sudirman Cup debut – the only newcomer among the women players. Among the men Nick Kidd, Kristian Roebuck and David Lindley will be sampling the Sudirman Cup experience for the first time.

England will be bidding to retain their place in the First Division just as they did in Eindhoven in 2003 when Olympic silver medallists and European champions Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms remained unbeaten throughout.

The England team will start their 2005 campaign against Denmark on Tuesday May 10 (1400hrs) – but England’s former performance director Finn Traerup-Hansen will not be in Beijing to see the contest between his past and present teams.

On Wednesday May 11 (1400hrs) England will face holders Korea, who will be boosted by the surprise return from retirement of Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min.

Their final Group 1A match will be against Thailand on Thursday May 12 (1900hrs).

After that England will face a play-off with the equivalent-place team in Group 1B which features China, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Sweden on Friday May 13. The semi-finals will be on Saturday May 14 (1400hrs and 1900hrs) and the final is on Sunday May 15 (1900hrs).

The England campaign will be one match longer than 2003 because there is an extra team in the two First Division groups.

If England can beat Thailand they will preserve their First Division status. Otherwise they can expect to face Sweden in a survival/relegation play-off just as they did in Eindhoven when Sweden were relegated – but then benefited from the increase in the size of the elite division.

The England squad (which leaves for Beijing on May 6) is:

Men (in alphabetical order)
Simon Archer
Robert Blair
Anthony Clark
Aamir Ghaffar
Nicholas Kidd
Nathan Robertson
Kristian Roebuck
David Lindley

Women
Elizabeth Cann
Gail Emms
Tracey Hallam
Donna Kellogg
Natalie Munt
Ella Tripp
Joanne Wright

Team Officials
J. Quinn (Team Manager)
Y. Yun Luo (Coach)
R. Mainaky (Coach)
A. Wood (Coach)
J. Dennis (Physiotherapist)