Rexy Mainaky. - Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are set to begin early preparations for next year’s Thomas Cup Finals in Horsens, Denmark, with national coaching director Rexy Mainaky stressing the need for long-term planning.
“Since Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei was appointed as performance committee chairman, we’ve agreed that planning for the Thomas Cup must start now, not one or two months before the tournament,” said Rexy after training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
Rexy said he and Chong Wei will hold a meeting with all coaches once they return from ongoing tournaments to map out the team’s build-up such as the SEA Games and World Tour Finals in December."
In the last edition of the Thomas Cup last year, Malaysia claimed bronze.
The country have only won the title once in 1992 at home in Kuala Lumpur.
Rexy believes the SEA Games from Dec 9-20 in Bangkok will present the shuttlers with an opportunity to build team spirit ahead of the Thomas Cup.
The badminton event in the biennial Games will be held from Dec 7-14.
While the Indonesian said that the standard of the SEA Games was far away than that of the Thomas Cup, it will still give the players a chance to build camaraderie.
"For me, SEA Games is miles away from Thomas Cup. We cannot judge that we will succeed in Thomas Cup if we perform well in SEA Games. But of course we can build team spirit," said Rexy.
The players selected for the SEA Games, who also have a strong chance to be picked for the Thomas Cup are Leong Jun Hao, Justin Hoh, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Eogene Ewe (men's singles), Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun (men's doubles).
Meanwhile, the others in the team looking to make their mark are K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Zulaikha Azmi, Eng Ler Qi (women's singles), Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah, Teoh Mei Xing, Go Pei Kee (women's doubles), Chen Tang Jie, Toh Ee Wei and Hoo Pang Ron, Cheng Su Yin (mixed doubles).
