World No. 3 Li Xuerui receives late Olympic entry

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Li Xuerui has received a late call-up to the London Olympics after passing Chinese teammate Wang Shixian in the world rankings.

China had the top four ranked women when the Olympic qualifying period ended on May 3, with Wang at No. 3, and Li at No. 4. The rules allowed for Wang to qualify but Li missed out.

But Li and Wang swapped rankings on May 31, and Li consolidated the No. 3 ranking amid her 30-match winning streak from February into June.

On Tuesday, at the end of the final qualifying phase, China picked Li for singles and dropped Wang, the Asian Games champion who was world No. 1 as recently as November.