China's chief coach Li Yongbo admitted that India had made a big progress in the last few years but the host nation has quite some distance to cover before it can become a contender in major events like the Li-Ning BWF Thomas and Uber Cup badminton tournament.
The 51-year-old, however, insisted that India was one of the few nations that have started to challenge the hegemony of the traditional super powers like China, Malaysia and Indonesia and he was impressed by the progress they have made.
"The level of badminton in the world is improving and that is being seen in the results. India is one of the countries along with Japan and Thailand who have made good progress. But as a team they are not yet comparable with the top countries," he told reporters at a media interaction here.
Speaking about his team's chances of retaining both the Thomas and Uber Cup titles, Li said the women were the traditional favourites and he has the team capable of handling all opposition in the Thomas Cup.
While the Chinese contingent boasts of the world's top three teams in the women's section, the men's singles will have world champion Lin Dan, world number 2 Chen Long and world number 6 Pengyu Du.
"This year we even have a strong doubles squad in Thomas Cup. Normally in the past, we have had one very strong doubles pair. But this time we have the choice of three pairs to choose from," he added.
Asked about his views over the organizational preparations, Li credited the Badminton Association of India for doing a great job. "There is a lot of progress from the last time I was here in 2000 for Thomas and Uber Cup qualifiers and the facilities here. India is doing a lot to promote the game and I am very happy with the preparations."
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