Luggage delay does not dampen Malaysia's hopes

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s challenge at the German Open got off to the worst possible start when five of their shuttlers’ equipment and luggage arrived 24 hours late in Mulheim.

Men’s singles shuttler Liew Daren and the men’s doubles pairs of Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong and Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah arrived in Mulheim on Sunday night. But the quintet discovered that their luggage and racquets failed to arrive on the same flight.

“We arrived on Sunday but we were unable to train because we had no luggage or equipment. It was pure bad luck,” lamented Daren.

“Fortunately, the luggage arrived last night (Monday night) and we managed to get a feel of the court,” added Daren who went into action against France’s Thomas Rouxel in the first round last night.

World No. 38 Daren is the only Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) singles representative.

Besides the 2012 French Open winner, there are four other independent Malaysian singles shuttlers – Tan Chun Seang, Chan Kwong Beng, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif and Misbun Ramdan Misbun – in the fray.

Despite the setback, Thien How, who is seeded second with Wee Kiong, remains positive and upbeat about getting a good result.

“We may not have started the year so well with disappointing results in the Korean and Malaysian Opens but we have been training hard and everything is going good for us,” said Thien How.

“We’re definitely hoping to produce a good showing here in Germany.”

Thien How-Wee Kiong, the world No. 8, have a first-round bye and are likely to meet Japan’s Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata in the second round.

V Shem-Khim Wah, who are riding high after winning last month’s Malaysian Open, will start their campaign in the first round against Hong Kong’s Chan Yun Lung-Lee Chun Hei.