THE Thomas and Uber Cup Finals on Oct 3-11 in Aarhus, Denmark is set to be an unpredictable affair.
According to BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a major setback for most of the countries, especially in terms of team preparation.
In yesterday's draw ceremony at the Badminton World Feder ation (BWF) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were placed in Group A for the Thomas Cup with Indonesia, England and the Netherlands.
For the Uber Cup, Malaysia are in Group B with Indonesia, South Korea and Australia.
"No doubt, everyone is going to be feeling anxious about competing in a major event after such a long layoff. But we are all in the same boat. We just have to manage the pressure.
"I think we should consider ourselves fortunate as compared to other countries, who have yet to resume full training because of the pandemic.
"On top of that, we also have our internal tournaments, which should help us regain our competitive feeling.
"Looking at the draw, Indonesia will be our biggest challenge in the group stage of the Thomas Cup.
"Our Uber Cup team will have their hands full with Korea and Indonesia," Choong Hann told Timesport yesterday.
The former international also acknowledged that Indonesia have got a slight advantage as their national team continued training while most countries went into partial or full lock downs over the last few months.
"In terms of preparation, they (Indonesia) have a head start, but we're not too far behind.
"Our target for the Thomas Cup is to top the group. I would be pleased if our women's team could make top two as well," Choong Hann added.
Subject to any last-minute cancellation, The Thomas and Uber Cup Finals is set to be the first international tournament since the suspension of the World Tour in March.
THOMAS CUP
Group A: Indonesia, Malaysia, Netherlands, England; Group B: China, Taiwan, Australia, France; Group C: Denmark, India, Germany, Algeria; Group D: Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Canada.
UBER CUP
Group A: Japan, Taiwan, Egypt, Spain; Group B: South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia; Group C: Thailand, Denmark, Scotland, Canada; Group D: China, India, France, Germany.