Badminton

'Be wary of England'

BAM are confident their young squad can qualify for the Sudirman Cup quarter-finals next month, but Malaysia will have to be wary of England.

Following the draw yesterday at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are pooled in Group D with second seeds Japan, England and Egypt for the world mixed team meet in Vantaa, Finland on Sept 26-Oct 3.

BAM coaching director, Wong Choong Hann, who assisted with the draw said: "It's a fair draw, I don't think we have much to complain about.

"In fact, it's funny that we are in the same group as Japan and England for the Thomas Cup as well.

"However, this will be different and we are confident of clearing the group stage.

"Japan, are of course the superpower in the group but we need to be wary of England. They can spoil the party for us."

Earlier, BAM had indicated that they would send a young squad, and will not approach any independent players for both the Sudirman Cup, and Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Aarhus, Denmark in October.

For the Sudirman Cup, only the top two teams from the group will qualify for the knockout stage before a fresh draw is conducted.

Since the inception of the Sudirman Cup in 1989, only three countries — China, South Korea and Indonesia — have won the tournament.

At the previous edition in Nanning, China, two years ago, Malaysia crashed out in the quarter-finals after losing 3-0 to Japan.

SUDIRMAN CUP DRAW

Group A: China, Thailand, Finland, India;

Group B: Taiwan, South Korea, Tahiti, Germany;

Group C: Indonesia, Denmark, Russian Olympic Committee, Canada;

Group D: Japan, Malaysia, England, Egypt.

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories