Norza: Defeat shows that we rely too much on seniors

Norza: “I want the team to qualify in style and show that we deserve to be in the Finals.” — Bernama

OVER-RELIANCE on senior players was cruelly exposed in Malaysia’s 3-1 defeat to India in the mixed team final.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria was not pleased.

“I’m disappointed that we could not keep up with our tradition in the mixed team,” said Norza.

Malaysia have been the team champions since the 2006 Melbourne Games.

“The defeat proved that we have relied on seniors for far too long. We’re unable to match an improved team like India.

“Our mixed doubles pair (Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying) and Lee Chong Wei failed to come good.

“Peng Soon-Liu Ying were leading 12-8 in the decider but failed to finish off their opponents who are not even in the top 10 bracket – that’s disappointing,” he added.

Norza, however, sang praises for Soniia Cheah for giving world No. 12 Saina Nehwal a good fight before losing 11-21, 21-19, 9-21.

“Soniia was not even supposed to play. She hurt her ankle and the doctors advised her not to play but she took the risk to play for Malaysia,” he said.

“She had a monumental challenge but did well to rise to the occasion. She lost to a better player,” he said.

Norza is still confident that Malaysia would meet their three gold-medal target in badminton.

“Our team have the potential and I’m still hopeful for the team to deliver three. I’ll console and motivate the team to bounce back in the individual competitions,” he added.