CHENGDU, April 26 — Go big or go home.
That certainly would be the case for the current national men’s badminton squad, who are hoping to etch their names in the history books by ending the country’s 32-year Thomas Cup drought in the highly-anticipated 2024 edition in Chengdu, China, set to kick off tomorrow.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia even threw down the gauntlet to the players, stating that bringing home the Thomas Cup is an achievable feat, provided they exhibit unwavering patriotic and fighting spirit throughout the tournament held at the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Sports Centre.
However, the team’s preparation has been plagued by several off-court issues within the men’s singles camp, including controversies surrounding national men’s singles professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia and the absence of Ng Tze Yong due to delayed recovery from back surgery.
Zii Jia once again stole the limelight ahead of the tournament, as he had previously demanded payment for ‘image rights’ and opted out of joining the national team’s one-week training camp at Akademi Badminton Malaysia, Bukit Kiara.
Now that the world number 10 is part of the team, the Thomas Cup presents a prime opportunity for him to silence his critiques, giving his all to contribute valuable points for Malaysia in Chengdu.
This was due to the fact that the All England 2021 champion could potentially be the safest bet for Malaysia, given the ‘fragility’ of the men’s singles camp at the moment.
Looking back at his team event performance since 2022, the 26-year-old impressed by losing just once in 18 matches, with three wins during the Thomas Cup 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, prior to Malaysia’s 3-2 defeat to India in the quarterfinals.
Accompanying Zii Jia are former 2017 Asian Junior champion Leong Jun Hao, who may take a role as second singles, followed by Cheam June Wei and Justin Hoh.
Malaysia’s true strength lies in the doubles department, spearheaded by 2022 world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2024 runners-up Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and promising duo Muhammad Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian.
Led by Wooi Yik as team captain, Malaysia, seeded fifth and holding five championship titles, will open their Group D campaign against Hong Kong tomorrow morning.
Onto the Uber Cup action, the exclusion of the national top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M Thinaah, from the tournament might hamper the 10th seeded team in Group B, which includes fourth-seeded Thailand, sixth-seeded Taiwan and Australia.
Despite low expectations for the women’s squad, this edition would serve as a great platform for doubles shuttler Teoh Mei Xing to step up and inspire her teammates, comprising Goh Jin Wei, K. Letshanaa, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Zulaikha Azmi, Go Pei Kee, Tan Zhing Yi, Ho Le Ee and Chan Wen Tse, to perform proudly.
The nine-day badminton festivities at the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2024 will end on May 5.
— Bernama
