Thomas Cup Finals: Lee Chong Wei urges his team-mates to do utmost against Denmark
Malaysian ace Lee Chong Wei has turned his focus to Thomas Cup Finals as he gave a wakeup call to his compatriots and advised them to go all out against Denmark in group match on May 22, 2012.
Malaysia is going to start its marathon by facing the relatively easy opponent of South Africa and the win will take them into quarter-finals of esteemed team event.
However, they will not receive an easy draw in final rounds as they will be up against strong contestants like China, Korea, Indonesia and Japan.
If Malaysia ends preliminary stages as top team of its group then it will successfully avoid China in quarter-final round as all group winners will not face each other in knockout stage.
The badminton king Chong Wei admitted that they will have to clinch top position in their group to ensure a favourable draw in round of eight. He looked confident as he stated that Denmark does not enjoy its old status in the arena anymore.
He said, "We must beat Denmark so that we avoid China in the quarter-finals. Denmark is not as strong as they were before and we have a 50-50 chance."
Malaysia will bank on Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim and Daren Liew in Men’s Singles event while the Men’s Doubles category will see Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem representing the country.
World Number one Chong Wei has fair chance to snatch the first match point from veteran Dane Peter Hoeg Gade who has been struggling to revive his form.
However, Daren Liew and Hafiz Hashim will really have to stretch hard as they are going through a bad patch.
This makes Doubles contest crucial and Chong Wei believes only a team effort will help them to overcome Denmark and the win ultimately will elevate their prospects to be in the top two teams of prestigious event.
He said, "Our target is to reach the semi-finals and the task will be easier if we win the group stage and we have to go all out against Denmark."
Meanwhile, Chong Wei also added that they may compete Indonesia or Denmark in quarter-final rounds and a good run in group stages will really boost their confidence to surpass the hot favourites in final stages of Thomas Cup 2012.
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