SHAH ALAM: Malaysia have lowered their expectation in the Asia Team Championships by setting a semi-final target for the men’s team.
The meet that serves as a qualifier for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals will be held in Shah Alam from Feb 13-18.
In the last edition, the men’s team emerged as the champions after beating Indonesia 3-0 in the final, while the women lost 0-3 to South Korea in semi-finals.
Only professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) has been named in the squad so far.
And based on the target set before naming the squad, it looks like Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) may name several back-up players ahead of seniors.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said the target was made considering the lack of depth in the current line-up of men shuttlers and injuries in the team. Right now, singles shuttlers Ng Tze Yong and Justin Hoh are recovering from injuries.
“We are targeting to finish in the top four in the men while we have not set any target for the women. I believe the team will review the target as they progress,” said Kenny during a press conference yesterday.
“Although we will still qualify for the Thomas Cup through our world rankings, we still want to nail it based on merit,” he said.
The top four teams are assured of their tickets for the Finals.
“I think it is still too early to decide on Tze Yong, it is best to give him and the coaching director time to make that call.”
Tze Yong’s condition remains a question after the world No. 14 was forced to retire in the first round of the Malaysian Open when he suffered a back injury midway through his match against Japan’s Koki Watanabe at the Axiata Arena.
With the deadline set to end on Jan 26, national coaching director Rexy Mainaky will have a tough task to name the best line-up for the team event.
Meanwhile, Kenny added that the Asia team event returns to Selangor following an impressive turnout at the last edition in 2022.
“The turnout was very good despite the Covid-19 restrictions imposed two years ago. Now that there are no restrictions, we are expecting a bigger crowd this time,” added Kenny.
