Deputy President of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid has urged the players to not underestimate their opponents and take the match easy in the Badminton Asia Team Championship (BATC) as overconfidence often backfires.
The championship, which serves as a qualifier for the Kunshan Thomas Cup and Uber Cup commences today in Hyderabad, India.
The men’s squad will be taking on Sri Lanka tomorrow whereas the women will be facing Hong Kong for their opening match.
Despite talks on how the men’s squad will be at ease due to easy competition from Sri Lanka and Nepal, Al Amin reiterated that the players should not take the two nations lightly as too much confidence may be the crucial key to failure at times.
“For the team championship, anything can happen. Do not take Sri Lanka and Nepal lightly. We’ve got our chance in the New Delhi Thomas Cup two years ago, many surprises can happen and I definitely hope Malaysia can do it this time,” he said as quoted from Harian Metro.
The association will be sending a string of young players for the championship, with an aim to gain exposure instead of targeting victories.
“This is the best exposure for the players and a platform for them to improve their world ranking so that they would not need to participate in too many qualifying rounds for other championships. The most obvious and greatest improvement so far would have to be men’s singles player Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin.”
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Masters runner-up claimed that he and his team are ever ready to face their first round match tomorrow.
“All players are in good form and we’re all motivated. We are certainly ready to play in the first round tomorrow. The coach has greatly motivated us and shared his experiences to increase our confidence.”
“We will do our best for the nation.”
“Yesterday, we got test the court. Everything went well and the wind was quite strong in the stadium. So, it was hard to control the movement of the shuttlecock, but there’s only one more day before our first match, so I hope we can get used to it,” he added.
Other posts by Michelle Liew
