KUALA LUMPUR: BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky does not want his charges going easy on any opponent at this week's Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC).
Ahead of the men's team opening Group B fixture against Brunei on Tuesday, Rexy urged the Malaysian players to be ruthless against lower-ranked teams.
The other two teams in the group are Kazakhstan and Taiwan.
"I don't want to say that we are better than Brunei or Kazakhstan, but if we can win 5-0 in both those ties, then that is what we should be going for.
"We are aware that Taiwan will be our strongest contender in the group.
"Both teams know each other's advantages and disadvantages, so we need to be really prepared for a 50-50 tie," Rexy said on Monday.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage, where a fresh draw will be conducted.
Winners from the last eight will also automatically qualify for the Thomas Cup Finals in April.
Separately, Rexy admitted that despite several minor injury issues, the Malaysian men's team are in high spirits as they look to defend the title won from two years ago, also at the Setia City Convention Centre in Selangor.
"As we know, Tze Yong is still not 100 per cent fully recovered (from a lower back injury), while Aaron Chia felt a little stiff this morning.
"Leong Jun Hao has a cough, but all these are minor issues that should not affect the team's overall performance.
"Our No. 1 men's singles, Lee Zii Jia, looks very sharp after his training stint in South Korea," added Rexy.
On whether Malaysia will field their strongest lineup in the opening tie on Tuesday, Rexy said: "There was a discussion with the singles department earlier, but we haven't decided on the starting lineup just yet.
"If Zii Jia wants to get a feel of the court early, he will play in the first singles match.
"The same goes for doubles. We are still deciding whether to field our senior or junior players."
The team comprise Zii Jia, Tze Yong, Jun Hao, Eogene Ewe (singles), Aaron-Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri (doubles).
The Malaysian women's team will open their Group Y tie against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday.