Formidable foe: Japanese star Kento Momota will be competing in the Asia Team Championships in Setia Alam from Feb 13-18.
PETALING JAYA: Badminton powerhouses China and Indonesia will field a modest line-up in the men’s team event but Malaysia are not jumping for joy.
National director of coaching Rexy Mainaky has called on his charges to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground in the Asia Team Championships in Setia Alam from Feb 13-18 despite the weakened opposing teams.
Malaysia are the defending champions but at this year’s edition, the team led by Lee Zii Jia have set a top four target.
The Asia meet is the qualifying tournament for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals in China in April and the top four teams will make the cut.
China are assured for the Finals by virtue of being a host while Indonesia will make the cut even if they fail to make the top four as they are in good team ranking position.
Rexy believes that the team members of the other countries were not hastily made but rather meticulously crafted after thorough consideration.
Instead of thinking too much about their opponents, Rexy wants to focus more on preparing his players.
“They have already chosen those players after taking into account their abilities, so we don’t need to think about the other teams and who their players are,” said Rexy.
“Let’s just stay focused on our own players.”
China have chosen Weng Hongyang and He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu, both ranked world No. 16 in their singles and doubles events, as their highest ranked players.
They have excluded their top two players – Shi Yuqi (No. 2) and Li Shifeng (No. 3) – in the singles while Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (No. 2) and Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuan Yi (No. 8) will not see action in the doubles.
As for Indonesia, the men’s singles division will not be bolstered by Anthony Ginting (No. 5) and Jonatan Christie (No. 9), while doubles will see the absence of Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (No. 7).
They will rely on Chico Aura (No. 30) and Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (No. 9) to lead the singles and doubles respectively.
South Korea, Japan and India are looking good to battle for the Asia team title as they would be sending their best players.
Malaysia are in Group B with Taiwan, Kazakhstan and Brunei and only the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Malaysia have a clear path to the last eight, considering Taiwan as their strongest opponents, while they should not have problem overcoming Kazakhstan and Brunei.
Although Taiwan will not have their singles ace Chou Tien-chen (No. 14), they should not be taken lightly.
Singles will be led by Malaysian Open semi-finalist Lin Chun-yi (No. 19) while reigning Olympics champions Wang Chi-lin, Lee Yang doubles will lead the doubles.
SELECTED TEAMS
China
Singles: Weng Hongyang, Lu Guangzu, Lei Lanxi, Wang Zhengxing.
Doubles: He Jiting, Ren Xiangyu, Chen Boyang, Liu Yi, Xie Haonan, Zeng Weihan.
India
Singles: H.S. Prannoy, Lakshya Sen, K. Srikanth, Chirag Sen.
Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, M.R. Arjun, Dhruv Kapila, K.R. Pruthvi, Suraj Goala.
Indonesia
Singles: Chico Aura, Alvi Wijaya, Alwi Farhan, Yohanes Saut.
Doubles: Leo Rolly, Muhammad Shohibul, Rahmat Hidayat, Daniel Marthin, Bagas Maulana, Yeremia Erich.
Japan
Singles: Kento Momota, Kodai Naraoka, Kenta Nishimoto, Koki Watanabe.
Doubles: Akira Koga, Kenya Mitsuhashi, Hiroki Okamura, Taichi Saito, Kazuki Shibata, Naoki Yamada.
Malaysia
Singles: Lee Zii Jia, Ng Tze Yong, Leong Jun Hao, Eogene Ewe.
Doubles: Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei, Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Mohd Haikal Nazri, Choong Hon Jian.
South Korea
Singles: Jeon Hyeok-jin, Lee Yun-gyu, Cho Geon-yeop, Jeong Min-seon, Woo Seung-hoon.
Doubles: Kang Min-hyuk, Seo Seung-jae, Kim Won-ho, Jin Yong, Kim Dong-ju.
Taiwan
Singles: Lee Chia-hao, Lin Chun-yi, Wang Tzu-wei, Chi Yu-jen.
Doubles: Yang Po-hsuan, Yang Po-han, Wang Chi-lin, Lee Yang, Lu Ching-yao, Lee Jhe-huei.
