Thomas Cup Finals: Malaysian shuttlers to face a power-packed Chinese line-up in quarter-final
Despite putting up good show in Group C competition, Malaysian shuttlers failed to overpower Danish opposition and now are set to face a power-packed Chinese line-up in quarter-final stage at the Thomas Cup Finals 2012, which is in progress in China.
The World Number One Lee Chong Wei got a severe ankle injury that forced him to withdraw while playing against Denmark’s Peter Hoeg Gade.
Now the Malaysians will fight against Chinese players in front of the huge Chinese crowd which will be an uphill task for the Malaysian shuttlers to steal even a single point especially when Chong Wei is not around.
China is the top seed in this team-event tournament and it will be quite challenging for Malaysians to overpower any of Chinese players as there is a huge skill gap.
However, Malaysia’s national coach Tan Kim Her said that they wanted to avoid facing China before semi-final but the draw went against their favour.
He said, “China were the team we wanted to avoid ... unfortunately the draw has been unkind to us.”
Nevertheless, the coach also said that being underdogs, the Malaysian shuttlers will play without any pressure and will try their best to shake the boat of hosts.
He added, “Chong Wei will be missed but we will fight all out. We will field our best line-up. We are the underdogs and we will play without pressure.”
In the absence of the top seed Chong Wei, Malaysian team will field Liew Daren in the opening Men’s Singles competition.
Muhammad Hafiz Hashim will play the second Singles contest and the young shuttler Chong Wei Feng will compete in the decisive fight.
Daren will be up against the reigning Olympic and World Champion Lin Dan of China while Hafiz will take on Chen Long and Wei Feng will be up against the former World Champion Chen Jin.
Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat will fight to the World Number One Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China.
In the second Men’s Doubles fight, Malaysia’s Goh V Shem and Lim Khim Wah will battle against Xu Chen and Guo Zhendong of China.
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