Seu Bock advises his shuttlers to stay positive for Thomas Cup Final – Badminton Update
The singles coach of Malaysia Tey Seu Bock advised his shuttlers to stay positive after Malaysia getting the sixth spot in seeding for Thomas Cup finals, set to be held in Wuhan from May 20, 2012.
This low seeding means Malaysia will have to face top seeded countries in group stages which really put their chances for a semi-final in danger.
The qualifiers list includes China at the top of the seeding list with South Korea, Denmark, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia according to rankings while Germany, Russia and England are the other prominent countries taking part in the event.
However, the national singles coach Seu Bock believes that the seeding should not be given much attention and players must stay focused to elevate their strengths to reach at least in the semi-finals of the event.
He said, "The main thing is to qualify for the knockout stage and the draw will determine our fate. The players must remain positive and give their best and not be too concerned about the seeding."
The Badminton World Federation awarded the seeding in the light of world rankings published on March 1, 2012 and the knockout round qualifiers will be seeded later according to May 17 rankings.
Malaysia does not stand much chance to jump into top seeded teams in knockout stage also as very few tournaments are left to elevate their team ranking before the deadline.
However, Seu Bock is confident that the recent progress of national number two Daren Liew will really help the top shuttlers, World Number one Lee Chong Wei and the veteran Hafiz Hashim, whose experience and brilliance have made special impact in crucial
matches in the past as well.
The Coach said, "It is very difficult on paper for us. However, the Thomas Cup is a team event and we have done well before despite not having many top five players or pairs."
Meanwhile, BWF has also given the contesting countries a deadline of May 7 to announce their final squads so the Malaysian selectors will be watching closely the performance of their shuttlers in the coming events.
The badminton maestro Chong Wei, Daren Liew and Hafiz Hashim have confirm spots in the squad while Arif Abdul Latif and Chong Wei Feng will be considered for back-up players.
The doubles event will see the duo of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Goh V. Shem-Lim Khim Wah representing the country in Thomas Cup finals.
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