Rashid brushes aside the suggestion to include Zulfadli, Misbun in Thomas Cup squad
The singles chief coach of Malaysia, Rashid Sidek opposed the idea to include Zulfadli Zulkifli and Misbun Ramdan Misbun in the squad for Thomas Cup finals, set to be held in China from May 20, 2012.
Both youngsters have proved their mettle in recent past as Misbun has emerged as one of the most promising youngster while the talented Zulfadli has registered his presence in the arena by winning the Junior World and Asian Champion title last year.
However, the coach believes this will be injustice to put them into tough trial at the senior level so early. He said both youngsters are going to stay in the arena for long time so they will be fielded in future events.
Rashid said, "It is too early to thrust them into a major event like the Thomas Cup Finals but they will be in the team for coming editions."
There have been discussions about the badminton future of Malaysia as its top shuttler the World Number one Lee Chong Wei will bid farewell in couple of years and only Daren Liew will be the one to claim his legacy at the international level.
The badminton guru Rashid Sidek thinks that the youngsters Zulfadli and Misbun will prove themselves true successors of the badminton king Chong Wei in next couple of years.
He said, "Give them another two years and they will be among our top three singles in the 2014 Thomas Cup campaign."
Both spirited youngsters are in transition period from junior to senior level and The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) provided them an opportunity to gain valuable experience at senior stage by selecting them in Axiata Cup back-up squad, the Malaysian
Leopards.
The national singles coach admired this initiative from BAM and hoped this will help the youngsters to elevate their skills.
Rashid said, "It was a good decision by the BA of Malaysia (BAM) to include them in the Leopards' squad for the Axiata Cup as the team event has given them good exposure. Both had the chance to play with experienced shuttlers."
This strategy yielded good results as the Malaysian Leopards reached in the semi-finals despite of having relatively inexperienced players like Zulfadli and Misbun Ramdan.
Their next challenge will be the Australian Open followed by the Indian Open in last week of April.
BAM has also started a four-year special program under which the young talent of the country will be prepared for the mega events like Thomas Cup and Olympics.
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