Rashid believes Hafiz Hashim will play his role to perfection – Badminton News
Singles chief coach of Malaysia Rashid Sidek tagged Hafiz Hashim as a key player and hoped that he will live up to his billing in Thomas Cup Finals, starting in Wuhan from May 20, 2012.
The veteran Men’s Singles expert Hafiz Hashim has regained his mentor’s confidence by rising in Malaysia Open GP Gold. He surged into semi-finals of home event and this effort took him to 27th spot in world rankings.
Though, Hafiz stands higher than World Number 33 shuttler Daren Liew but still he will contest as third Singles in group stage of Thomas Cup.
National Singles head coach Rashid take it as blessing in disguise as he thinks that the veteran will face relatively lower ranked opponents and stand fair chance to fetch crucial point by employing his brilliance and experience in the game.
He said, "Playing Hafiz as the third singles gives us the advantage because he will play against weaker players and has the experience of playing in previous Thomas Cup campaigns."
The World Number one shuttler Lee Chong Wei will open attack and he is expected to provide the real momentum by winning opening the match point.
Men’s Doubles teams of Malaysia also have the potential to outshine any top pair of the world. This makes Hafiz’s role crucial as Number two Singles campaigner is not in his prime touch and has been struggling for last few months.
The coach Rashid also admitted that Daren Liew is going through a bad patch and it will be a huge task for him to exceed world class players like Chen Long, Taufik Hidayat, Kenichi Tago and Shon Wan Ho as second Singles.
He said, "Daren's form is not too good and it will be hard for him to beat his more experienced opponents in the second singles."
According to draw, Malaysia will compete South Africa and Denmark in group stages and Rashid Sidek believes they can become group winner thus successfully avoid hot favourites in the quarter-finals.
He also added that Malaysia might play Indonesia or Denmark again in the round of eight and seasoned shuttler Hafiz Hashim has an edge over campaigners from these countries.
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