KUALA LUMPUR: The national badminton squad cannot afford to take any team lightly despite receiving a relatively comfortable group-stage draw for the Sudirman Cup, set to take place in Xiamen, China, from April 27-May 4.
Women’s singles shuttler K. Letshanaa believes Malaysia have a strong chance of advancing beyond the group stage but must remain cautious against Australia and France, both of whom have the potential to disrupt their path to the knockout rounds.
France, in particular, will be a formidable opponent after finishing as runners-up at the European Badminton Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, in February.
Their squad boast strength in the men’s singles, with rising star Alex Lanier making waves on the international stage. They also have depth in the men’s doubles, with brothers Christo and Toma Popov Jr, as well as a strong mixed doubles pair in Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue.
Malaysia, meanwhile, had a disappointing outing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Qingdao, where they failed to progress beyond the group stage. However, that campaign saw the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) field a second-tier squad, which included Letshanaa.
The tournament also served as a qualifier for the Sudirman Cup.
Despite missing out on automatic qualification as one of the top four teams, Malaysia still secured their spot based on their world ranking.
Joining Malaysia in Group C are three-time runners-up Japan.
“The Sudirman Cup is a tough tournament because every country will be fielding their best players, and in our group, Japan are undoubtedly the favourites.
“Meanwhile, it will also be a challenging battle against Australia and France, so we cannot take any team lightly.
‘‘Every player must give their best performance.
“Our aim is to play our best on court, regardless of whether we are facing strong opponents or not. Once we give our all, the results will come,” said Letshanaa.
At the same time, she believes the women’s singles squad have not been affected by Jeffer Rosobin’s resignation on Feb 28.
The BAM have yet to announce a replacement, but the players continue to train under the supervision of head singles coach Kenneth Jonassen, with assistance from Misbun Ramdan.
“We are still coping well with coach Kenneth’s programme.
‘‘Although he is at the All England, we continue to follow his training modules, and his guidance is always there.
“Besides that, we are also receiving assistance from coach Ramdan (Misbun), and we are adapting well. So, it’s not that we are missing anything, and we are not affected by coach Jeffer’s resignation.
‘‘We are moving forward with the same mindset and spirit,” she added.
