Coach Rashid is not ready to field Chong Wei in semi-final - Axiata Cup Update
The singles chief coach of Malaysia, Rashid Sidek is not ready to field his prime shuttler Lee Chong Wei in the semi-final of Axiata Cup, going to be held from March 31, 2012.
The national coach does not want to put Olympic hopes in danger by allowing injured World Number one shuttler Chong Wei to swing his arms in semi-finals where his team Malaysia Tigers has a huge task to surpass the prime team of Indonesia, Garuda.
Indonesia Garuda includes badminton maestro Taufik Hidayat, the World Number nine shuttler Simon Santoso and Olympic championship couple Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan so whole nation is looking towards Chong Wei to lead the team against such strong opposition.
However, the coach Rashid thinks the other way as he opposes the idea of bringing Chong Wei in squad for the semi-finals of the event. He believes that the badminton ace should play only if he gets a green signal from the doctors.
The cautious Rashid said, "We have to think long term. Our main goal now is the Olympics. If he comes back to play in the semis and gets injured, who will bear the responsibility?"
Earlier, the Malaysia Tigers had to bow down against the B team of Indonesia despite having top players like Hafiz Hashim, Daren Liew and experienced partnership of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in squad.
But except the World Number 28 shuttler Daren Liew, all the big names went down against relatively unknown players and national coach expressed his disappointment by saying that Chong Wei’s absence was felt in the round robin matches.
Rashid said, "Of course we are disappointed with the result (on Sunday). We thought we could win but after Hafiz (Hashim) lost in three games, Koo (Kien Keat) and Tan (Boon Heong) also did the same. We missed Chong Wei."
The semi-finals of the event will be played on home and away basis in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
The prime shuttlers must gear-up for clash of the titans as Daren Liew is up against higher ranked opponent Simon Santoso while Hafiz will stretch hard to end losing streak against former World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.
The duo of Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong also has a crucial part to play as a point in doubles event can be decisive if one of Malaysian singles shuttlers falters in the semi-final match of Axiata Cup.
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