PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles ace shuttler Goh Soon Huat has shut the door on any possibility he will return to the men’s singles at the upcoming Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4.
Soon Huat, who began his career as a singles player, admitted he is no longer physically up to the task, having last competed in the category nine years ago.
“Maybe I’ll pass the baton to (Chen) Tang Jie or (Hoo) Pang Ron instead, because my physical condition carries a higher risk now,” the 34-year-old said with a wry smile Tuesday (April 15).
Soon Huat was also surprised that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) had only named two men’s singles shuttlers for the biennial mixed team event.
Malaysia will be relying on world No. 26 Leong Jun Hao and world No. 48 Justin Hoh to deliver the goods in the absence of Lee Zii Jia, who is still recovering from injury, while Ng Tze Yong has yet to regain full fitness.
This is not the first time Malaysia has faced a shortage of men’s singles players at a major team event.
During last year’s Asian Team Championships in Setia Alam, both Zii Jia and Tze Yong were ruled out of the final because of injuries.
That forced Malaysia to turn to men’s doubles player Muhammad Haikal Nazri to fill the void as the third singles player after Jun Hao and Eogene Ewe in the tie against China, which ended in a 0-3 defeat.
