KUALA LUMPUR – Former badminton greats believe that the national men’s and women’s badminton teams should not have a problem qualifying for the knockout stages of the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC), scheduled for next month at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam.
The men’s team is grouped with Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Brunei in Group B, while the women’s team is grouped with Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Group Y.
Former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) high performance director Datuk James Selvaraj said that the men’s team should be able to progress to the quarterfinals without any issues.
“We tend to do well in team competitions because the players have a good team spirit, which is a positive sign for us in this tournament.
“However, lately, the performance of our players has been below par and there are injury issues too, so you don’t know what will actually happen,” James told Scoop when contacted.
At the same time, James added that the men’s team should not take Chinese Taipei lightly as they can cause a lot of problems, adding that they have world class players.
“We have to be careful with Chinese Taipei. They have good singles players and two good men’s doubles.
“The BAM coaching team should have a strategy for our players to win at the BATC, adding that it would be difficult for Malaysia to defend their title with Japan, China and India in the mix, ” added James.
Former Olympic bronze medallist Datuk Razif Sidek agrees with James, saying that there should not be any problem for the teams to progress beyond the group stage, citing Malaysia’s homeground advantage.
“There is pressure playing in front of a home crowd but it should be to our advantage as they are on our side. Our players tend to overthink which leads to poor performance when they play at home.
“The players should not worry as the spectators will be on our side and all they want to see is players giving their best efforts. When you give your best shot, the result will come,” said Razif who won his Olympic bronze with brother Jalani at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Razif added that the players should go all out to prove a point and win the title again after having a dismal showing at the recent Malaysia Open.
“At the Malaysia Open, our players did not do too well, so I believe they should produce the best result they can. This is important and we have a home advantage.
“Just bring your best self to the court, repeat what you have worked on during the training sessions and everything should fall in line,” said Razif. – January 31, 2024
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