PETALING JAYA: England will be without their Europeans Championships men's doubles winners Ben Lane-Sean Vendy for the Thomas Cup but they are far from sweating.
Instead, coach Tan Kian Meng said they would bank on their second-ranked pair Alex Green-Zach Russ to give Malaysia's Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik a run for their money when both sides clash in the opening Group B tie of the Finals at the Horsens Forum in Horsens, Denmark, on Saturday (April 24).
The world No. 64 Green-Russ are riding high after disposing off top seeds and Denmark's top pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmusssen in the quarter-finals of the European meet before losing in the semis last month.
"I really hope that this pair will be able to challenge Aaron-Wooi Yik if they are fielded. They did well to upset Danish top pair in the European Championships and are looking confident," said Kian Meng.
Malaysia also have the options to rest world No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik and field Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun to test out the former's condition and name Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani as the second pair.
England's other two pairs are world No. 66 Oliver Butler-Samuel Jones and Robin Harper-Harry Wakefield (95)
Kian Meng, who has been working with England BA as coach together with Chris Adcock, is excited over his first Thomas Cup outing.
"I've only played in the Sudirman Cup for Malaysia before, and I was named as the captain then," said Kian Meng, who played with Lai Pei Jing before they parted ways recently.
"It's unfortunate that in my first Thomas Cup outing, we will meet Malaysia but I will be professional about it."
"England do not have a full team in the absence of Ben-Sean but we are determined to put up a good fight.
"Malaysia will surely field a strong team as they may want their top players to test the court.
England also have a mix of interesting singles players led by world No. 62 Harry Huang and followed by Cholan Kayan (153), Nadeem Dalvi (233), Kalyan Manoj (1022).
Harry, 24, is their national No. 1 and a graduate from the University of Notingham, began making his presence felt in the international stage in 2023.
On paper, Harry and company are all ranked lower than Malaysia's singles line-up Leong Jun Hao, Hustin Hoh, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Lee Zii Jia.
It would be a huge setback if Malaysia slip up in the opening game - and against a lower ranked England - as it will put their Finals campaign in jeopardy.
