PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have been handed a tricky test in the Sudirman Cup from May 14-21 in Suzhou, China, after being drawn against India, Taiwan and Australia in Group C.
India will be familiar foes for Malaysia, having clashed in the group stage at the Asian Mixed Team Championships in Dubai in February, where the latter fell to a disappointing 1-4 defeat.
India will again pose a threat to the country’s shuttlers as they boast some of the world’s top 10 players in the men’s singles (H.S. Prannoy, No. 9), doubles (Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, No. 6) and women’s singles (P. V. Sindhu, No. 9).
India also have rising women’s doubles pair – world No. 18 Treesa Jolly-Gayathri Gopichand – in their ranks.
Treesa-Gayathri had stunned national pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah in the Asian meet and reached the semi-finals of the All-England in Birmingham last week.
The form of Pearly-Thinaah and top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik of late are also worrying as both have been eliminated in the early rounds of the All-England and the ongoing Swiss Open.
Taiwan will also be tough opponents as they have the likes of world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen (men’s singles), world No. 4 Tai Tzu-ying (women’s singles) and reigning men’s doubles Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin in their ranks.
National mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto remains optimistic despite the daunting challenge ahead.
“I think the draw for us is still okay. Malaysia, Taiwan and India are almost on the same level.
“I don’t want to comment too much for now but we will give everything to get the best possible outcome,” he said.
Malaysia will need to beat either India or Taiwan to progress to the quarter-finals as only the top two in the group will make the last eight.
THE GROUPINGS
Group A: China, Denmark, Singapore, Egypt.
Group B: Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Canada.
Group C: Malaysia, Taiwan, India, Australia.
Group D: Japan, South Korea, France, England.
