KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is expected to finalise the full list for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup squads by no later than the middle of next month.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said the coaching staff is still evaluating to ensure that those who are truly qualified are given the opportunity to play in the prestigious tournaments.
“The deadline for us to submit the list of players is the middle of September so we still have time.
“We will hold a motivational camp (in Tioman Island, Pahang in early September) before facing the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup,” he told reporters after attending a working committee meeting with representatives from the National Sports Council and the National Sports Institute here today.
Kenny said BAM would hold a Covid-19 screening test before the national squad leaves for Denmark to ensure national players are free from the pandemic.
BAM coaching director, Wong Choong Hann said the country’s top male singles player, Lee Zii Jia has been undergoing light training for the past few weeks although he has not fully recovered from his lower back muscle injury he suffered while participating in the BAM invitational tournament, recently.
He is also confident that the 22-year-old will fully recover to play in the Thomas Cup in October.
Malaysia are drawn in Group A with traditional rivals, Indonesia who are the 13-time champions, in addition to the Netherlands and England in the Thomas Cup tournament which is scheduled to take place from Oct 3 to 11 in Aarhus, Denmark.
The national women’s squad will face a difficult task as they are drawn in group B, along with South Korea, Indonesia and Australia.
Based on the tournament format, the top two teams in each group qualify for the quarterfinals.
Malaysia have won the Thomas Cup five times — 1949, 1952, 1955, 1967 and 1992 while the women’s squad has never won the Uber Cup since its introduction in 1957 in England. — Bernama
