A five-day “Oneness” motivational camp for the Malaysian teams to the Thomas Cup Finals and Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok ended at the Academy Badminton Malaysia ended in Bukit Kiara on Tuesday.
The Malaysian teams leave for Bangkok on Thursday – ready to go the extra mile with the Thomas Cup team hoping to end the 26-year-long drought after last winning the silverware in 1992 in Kuala Lumpur.
In coaches we trust and in players we trust as Malaysia chase their initial target of a semi-finals berth in the Thomas Cup for men and the quarter-finals in the Uber Cup for women.
As team manager, Datuk Ng Chin Chai said: “We may be ranked lower than other teams but a motivated team can pull off the unexpected.”
At the end of the five-day camp Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) supremo, Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria handed over the Jalur Gemilang to Thomas Cup captain, the former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei and Uber Cup skipper Vivian Hoo.
The others in the Thomas Cup team are Lee Zii Jia, Iskandar Zulkarnain, Leong Jun Hao in the singles. The doubles players are Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Teo Ee Yi and Mohd Arif Latif.
The rest of the Uber Cup players are Soniia Cheah, Goh Jin Wei, Lee Ying Ying, S. Kisona (singles) while Lee Meng Yean, Chow Mei Kuan, Soong Fie Cho, Tee Jing Yi and Goh Yea Ching complete the doubles cast.
Malaysia is drawn in Group D in the Thomas Cup and has defending champions Denmark, Russia and newcomers Algeria for company. Their opening match is on Monday when they play the Russians.
In the Uber Cup, the Malaysians are drawn in Group A together with defending champions China, Indonesia and France. Malaysia’s opening match is against Indonesia also on Monday. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
