Malaysia will have to battle for the points against Hong Kong

Discussion in 'Thomas/Uber Cups 2004' started by ants, Feb 18, 2004.

  1. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong can be a tough team for Malaysia in their final Group B tie of the Thomas Cup Asian Zone qualifying tournament at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras tonight.

    In their top two singles players, Ng Wei and Agus Hariyanto, Hong Kong can put tremendous pressure on Malaysia to get the three points to win the tie. The winners of the tie will advance to the semi-finals and confirm their place in the Finals, which will be played in Jakarta fron May 6-17.

    However, Ng Wei and Agus, who have chalked up upset wins over top players in the world, played down their chances of winning their matches, especially if they were to play against Wong Choong Hann and Mohd Roslin Hashim respectively.

    China-born Ng Wei and Indonesia-born Agus have poor records against the Malaysians. The 23-year-old Ng Wei was beaten by Choong Hann in their previous two encounters. He lost 8-15, 15-3, 5-15 in the second round of the 2002 Busan Asian Games and 2-7, 1-7, 3-7 in the 2001 China Open.


    Malaysian singles chief coach Misbun Sidek having a few words with youngsters Lee Chong Wei and Kuan Beng Hong after their matches in the tie against Sri Lanka Wednesday. Both players won easily but face an awesome task today, if they are fielded.
    The 28-year-old Agus has also lost all his matches against Roslin – the last was in the second round of the Singapore Open last year.

    Said Ng Wei: “It will be tough to beat Choong Hann, especially when he has home ground advantage. But I will give my best shot.”

    Agus, who moved from Indonesia to Hong Kong six years ago, said: “We are the underdogs. Malaysia have a strong line-up and I do not like playing against a player of his (Roslin's long rallying) style. But hopefully, I will be able to beat him for the first time.”

    All will not be lost for Hong Kong even if they lose the tie against Malaysia today. They have beaten Sri Lanka 5-0 and they will get into the playoffs for the fifth and final spot to the Finals among the group runners-up.

    Besides having the task of helping Hong Kong make it to the Finals, Agus will also be out to gain a place in the Athens Olympics.

    “I am ranked 16th in the world and there is a chance to make the cut for the Olympics,” said Agus, who shot into the limelight with a victory over 2000 Sydney Olympics champion Ji Xinpeng in the 2001 World Championships in Seville.

    “I have played for Hong Kong twice in the Sudirman Cup (world mixed team championships).

    “We gained promotion to Division Two in 2001 and we beat Malaysia last year to win a place in Division One.”

    Besides Agus and Ng Wei, the other singles player who will be fielded against Malaysia is another Indonesia-born player, Wiratama Yohan Hadikusuma at third singles.

    Hong Kong's top two doubles pairs are Liu Kwok Wa-Albertus Susanto and Tam Lok Tin-Lam Hoi Tak.

    Malaysia’s other singles players are national champion Lee Chong Wei and Kuan Beng Hong.

    The three pairs in the team are Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat and Chew Choon Eng-Chang Kim Wai.

    Malaysia's chief doubles coach Yap Kim Hock said they could not afford to take Hong Kong lightly.

    “We will field our best players. Malaysia can expect points from the first singles and second doubles.

    “But we expect the other matches to be closely contested.

    “The task for our team is to win the tie to confirm their place in the Finals,” he said.

    Last night, Malaysia went through the paces to record a 5-0 win over Sri Lanka.
     

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