malaysia thomas cup's player

cool, no surprise for choong hann, roslin and chong wei as they did quite well recently. It's good for hafiz and tsuen seng to be in, but again, since this is an important match, I guess Misbun's decision to drop Kuan Beng Hong is smart. I mean, we don't expect him to deliver much, do we? Clearly that Misbun's choice is based on experience for the Thomas Cup as both hafiz and tsuen seng really contributed A LOT in the previous TC edition.
As for the doubles, I see that yap kim hock has the faith in putting chan chong ming in the squad rather than gan teik chai, even though chan's performance looks kinda shaky and is struggling. Maybe he will arrange strategies to combine choon eng with another player as he did in the TC qualifying a few months ago.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 (Bernama) -- Former All-England champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim and Lee Tsuen Seng, two shuttlers who struggled to perform in the past 12 months, have been picked for the Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta from May 7 to 16.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), in announcing the final squads for both the Thomas and Uber Cups here today, have opted for experience rather than exposure.

BAM President Datuk Nadzmi Salleh said both Hafiz and Tsuen Seng would be valuable to the team as they were experienced and had played well in the team event like the Thomas Cup.

"From the past records, Hafiz and Tsuen Seng played much better in the team event and they have a lot of spirit, too," he said after announcing the teams at the BAM office in Bukit Kiara here Friday.

Leading the team in the singles will be the current world number three Wong Choong Hann, Hafiz's elder brother, Muhammad Roslin Hashim, and national champion Lee Chong Wei.

With the inclusion of Hafiz and Tsuen Seng, youngster Kuan Beng Hong who played in the Asian Zone Qualifying Round here two months ago, has been dropped together with Yeoh Kay Bin.

In the doubles, top pair Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah will be the best bet to claim a point in the team event, with the second pair to be chosen from among Chew Choon Eng, Chan Chong Ming and debutant Koo Kien Keat.

Chong Ming, Choon Eng's usual partner, has not fully recovered from his injury but coach Yap Kim Hock dropped the other injured player, Gan Teik Chai, who has been advised by the doctor to rest for more than a month.

"If Gan is not injured, we may select him instead of Chong Ming. But even though Chong Ming has not fully recovered, he showed some improvement and I am sure he will recover in time for the finals," said doubles coach Yap Kim Hock.

Singles coach Misbun Sidek also made a surprise move in his final line-up for the Uber Cup singles when he named debutants K. Sugita and Anita Raj Kaur alongside top players Wong Mew Choo, Woon Sze Mei and Norshahliza Baharom.

"Different from the Thomas Cup, we can expose the youngsters in the Uber Cup, especially to prepare them for future events. Julia Wong (who has been dropped) is nursing a shoulder injury and has not fully recovered," said Misbun.

In the doubles, Yap picked the top pair of Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty as well as Fong Chew Yen, Ooi Sock Ai and Mooi Hing Yau.

The Malaysian girls team created history when they qualified for the Uber Cup Finals on merit after finishing fifth in the qualifying round here last February.

Nadzmi said the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals would be used as preparations for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in August.

"We haven't set any targets for the team as we don't want to put undue pressure. But, of course, we want good results from them in the Thomas Cup and the Olympics," he said.

Malaysia, who finished runners-up in Guangzhou, China, two years ago when they lost 2-3 to arch rivals Indonesia in the finals, last won the Thomas Cup in 1992.

In Jakarta, Malaysia have been drawn with Thailand and South Africa in Group C for the Thomas Cup, while in the Uber Cup, they will play against Japan and Denmark in Group Y.

Malaysia are expected to meet either the top seeds China or hosts Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup if they top their group.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) has introduced a new format for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals starting this year with 12 teams qualifying for the final rounds instead of just eight.

-- BERNAMA
16 April 2004

 

heiiin??

why koo is in the team and not gan??

 

heard that gan is suffering from an injury (as stated by "Bernama" news agency) . I guess Koo Kien must be the reserve now

 

thks

thanks mirrura

 

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Misbun's comments about value of Lee Tsuen Sengs lack of fitness in GP tours but experience in team events and ability to excel in one -off games appears enlightening.