A tough call for Rashid Sidek to choose reserve player for Thomas Cup finals – Badminton News
It is certainly a hard call for national Singles coach Rashid Sidek to choose a reserve Singles player for Malaysian squad of the Thomas Cup finals, set to be held in Wuhan from May 20, 2012.
World Number one Lee Chong Wei, Daren Liew and Hafiz Hashim have sure spots as Singles campaigners.
Only a reserve spot is still open and three shuttlers Arif Abdul Latif, Chong Wei Feng and Chan Kwong Beng are strong contenders for this last available seat while youngster Misbun Ramdan Misbun is also a candidate.
This is a tense situation not only for players but for coach Rashid Sidek, who admitted that it is going to be a tough call for him as all of them have proved their mettle in recent past and stand an equal chance to represent their country.
He said, "Arif, Wei Feng, Kwong Beng and even Ramdan are in with a chance to seal the reserve slot. Everyone has played well in certain tournaments and it is going to be a hard call."
Now these youngsters will be stretching hard to lock the attention with their mesmerising performance in coming events, the Asian Badminton Championships (ABC) and India Open, as the selectors will be closely watching their performances in these tournaments.
Badminton guru Rashid Sidek stated that they are looking to field the best available player so national body is throwing an equal chance to all these contenders to prove their worth in these tournaments.
He said, "We want a player who can assume the responsibility and be ready for action if any of the top three players are not available. So, we are leaving it open until the two tournaments are concluded."
Meanwhile, the final squad is likely to be announced after ABC and India Open but the coach revealed that it may get delayed as one of these back-up shuttlers; Arif Abdul Latif is not playing these tournaments so selectors will wait for his performance in
the Malaysia Open.
Rashid said, "Arif will not be playing in the first two tournaments, so I am willing to wait until the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold before making recommendations."
However, Wei Feng is getting vote of confidence from majority of badminton critics as Arif has been off colour for last couple of tournaments while the other campaigners, Misbun Ramdan and Kwong Beng, do not have enough experience to handle pressure of prestigious
team event, the Thomas Cup.
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