KUNSHAN, May 21 — Lack of mental strength and physical fitness proved to be Malaysia’s undoing in the semifinals of the 2016 Thomas Cup 2016 here yesterday.

Malaysia lost 3-2 to Denmark after taking a 2-0 lead.

However, that should not have been the case as the lineup presented this time was much better than that of the last edition in New Delhi where the national squad made it to the final but also lost by the same margin to Japan.

Allowing victory to slip like this is certainly hard to swallow and as such, the coaching team handling the training programme led by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Technical Director Morten Frost Hansen, should take responsibility for the failure.

Frost, a former All-England singles champions and who was BAM coaching director from 1997 and 2000, should have known better and ironed out whatever “kinks” were present in the team before they left for China.

Appointed as the Technical Director in March last year, the Dane should have better prepared the team, particularly in the psychological aspects in facing the European giants in badminton.

Frost saying Malaysia had to accept Demark were the better team in the semis is not something easy to stomach and raises questions on the competency of the coaching team and the training programmes.

Team manager Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria had to apologise to all Malaysians over the failure to bring home the Cup since Malaysia last won it 24 years ago.

The last time Malaysia won the prestigious trophy was at the 1992 edition in Kuala Lumpur.

Mohamad Norza admitted that lack of physical fitness and mental strength let the team down, more so after clinching a 2-0 lead.

Mohamad Norza, who is also BAM Coaching and Training Committee chairman, said a re-evaluation of the players would be done taking into consideration their performance at the Thomas Cup and Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil, in August.

He said he was awaiting the ‘post-mortem’ report from Frost to draw up the future plans for the national squad towards facing the Thomas Cup in 2018 and thereafter.

BAM, he said, was well aware that it cannot solely depend on senior players and must have long-term planning to introduce “fresh faces”.

In the semis yesterday, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong had put Malaysia in the lead before Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin who went in as the second singles lost followed by the ace pair of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong, leaving the tie at 2-2.

In the decider, Chong Wei Feng tried his best to deliver the winning point but Emil Holst proved to be too much for him, thus ending Malaysia’s Thomas Cup dream once again. — Bernama