Hendrawan: Kedah Open will be a good test for my shuttlers
Hendrawan, Malaysia’s back-up shuttlers’ coach in the national squad, said that the Kedah Open 2011 will be a good test for his players and will help him determine the strong and weak points of his team. Kedah Open 2011 is the second event on the national
circuit, and kicks off from today, July 13, at Alor Setar, Malaysia.
The back-up shuttlers, who are participating in the Kedah Open and are currently training under the patronage of Hendrawan, include, Misbun Ramdan Misbun, Iskandar Zulkarnian Zainuddin, Kuan Kam Chung, Mohd Syawal Ismail, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, Lim Fang
Yang and Loh Wei Sheng.
While talking about the training and preparation of the shuttlers, Hendrawan said, “They have been working hard in training and I have seen the improvements they have made despite the lack of results. Arif, for example, did very well to reach the third round
of the Thailand Open GP Gold ... he was just unlucky in the end.”
The coach is quite optimistic about his shuttlers getting good results in the event, particularly Arif Latif, who has improved a lot since the last couple of years. The coach said that the Kedah Open will be a good test for the back-up shuttlers as all top
shuttlers are participating in the event.
“This Kedah Open will be a good test for them. It is rare that all the top players, like (Lee) Chong Wei, (Wong) Choong Hann and Mohd Hafiz (Hashim), will be playing,” he added.
Arif Latif is set to start his journey in the Men’s Singles draw against Ho Khee Kong. In the second round, he will meet the winner of Mohd Syawal Ismail and Lok Chong Chieh.
The toughest of challenges will come in the quarter-final, if he crosses the initial hurdles, where Arif will face, either Zulfadli Zulkifli or the senior shuttler, Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.
This seems like the right time for the back-up shuttlers to prove their worth in this home event, which brings a golden opportunity for them to grab the attention of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and enter into the national squad of elite shuttlers.
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