Kuala Lumpur: With less than one week left before the start of the 2021 Sudirman Cup on September 26, 2021, Malaysia’s Sudirman Cup squad has departed for Vantaa, Finland on Tuesday night, Malaysia time.
The Malaysian team, which had a bye on the first day of the Sudirman Cup, will play its first Group D match on September 27th, 2021 against the European powerhouse England.
This will be a key match-up that would determine whether Malaysia could advance to the top 8. It is expected that Malaysia will field its strongest lineup against England.
The 30-member Malaysian delegation, including 20 players, as well as coaches and support staff, were all tested negative for COVID-19 before leaving the country.
Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director, Wong Choong Hann was happy to see the Tokyo Olympics men’s doubles bronze medalists Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik have been putting in extra effort in training.
“The success of winning bronze at Tokyo Olympics had made them work harder in training. They were more enthusiastic and committed throughout training,” said Wong.
Wong also said that BAM would help the pair to win their first international title since being paired in 2017.
“Of course we set a target for them to win major tournaments and we will help them to achieve that goal,” added Wong.
With Malaysia sending mostly young players to the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup Finals, Chia/Soh could be a reliable pair to contribute points for Malaysia at these prestigious team championships apart from Malaysia’s first men’s singles – Lee Zii Jia, who also took on the responsibility as captain for both the Sudirman Cup and Thomas Cup.
The Sudirman Cup competition will take place in Vantaa, Finland from September 26 to October 3 with Malaysia drawn in Group D along with Japan, England, and Egypt.
After that, Malaysia’s men’s and women’s teams will fly to Denmark to compete at the Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in Aarhus, which will take place from October 9 to October 17.
In Aarhus, Malaysia’s Thomas Cup squad was drawn in Group D alongside Japan, Canada, and England while the Uber Cup team will meet China, Denmark, and Canada in Group D.
Wong also confirmed that the vacancy left by women’s singles player Goh Jin Wei for the Uber Cup squad after she announced her retirement last week would not be replaced by any player.
S Kisona, Eoon Qi Xuan, K Letshanaa, and Siti Nurshuhaini Azman will take on the challenge for the women’s singles competition in Aarhus.
