Young Thomas, Uber Cup squads but Malaysia have potential - Wooi Yik

AARHUS (Denmark): Malaysia's Thomas and Uber Cup squads this time around may well be newbies in the competitions, but that does not mean they are incapable of pulling off surprises.

Men's doubles player, Soh Wooi Yik believes that even though the teams are lined with rookies with an average age of 22, and lack experience in major tournaments, they have the potential to shine when the curtains go up on Saturday at the Ceres Arena here.

The 23-year-old shuttler from Kuala Lumpur who himself became an overnight sensation when he won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics with Aaron Chia, is optimistic that the national squads will be formidable competition to other claimants of the crown.

"Our hope is undoubtedly (to reach) the quarterfinals but it doesn't mean our team is weak, only that our experience is paled in comparison to other countries. But our team is on-form, we will fight all the way and be mentally prepared," he told Bernama.

Wooi Yik, who only arrived in Aarhus on Tuesday night with the rest of Malaysia's Sudirman Cup (mixed team championships) squad which made an expected semifinal finish, admitted that the Thomas Cup is a different ball-game altogether as other countries are also courting the men's top trophy.

"This time, I can see that all the other countries are more focused on the Thomas Cup by sending their best players. However, we must believe in ourselves and I believe in the potential of the Malaysian team.

"Sure our form can fluctuate with every match, but that too happens to every player. I feel mental perseverance counts big in a team event... We have learned to live with this, but we will maintain our performance," he explained before the team's first practice session at noon (6 pm Malaysian time).

Commenting on England's withdrawal at the last minute, Wooi Yik felt that the extra tie could have been invaluable in building momentum for their national players.

Malaysia will open their Group D campaign against Canada on Tuesday 7 pm (next Wednesday 1 am Malaysian time), followed by a nail-biting tie against Thomas Cup runners-up Japan next Thursday at 8.30 am (2.30 pm in Malaysia).

Malaysia are five-time winners of the Thomas Cup, the last being in 1992 at Stadium Negara, and finished runners-up nine times including in 2014 in the New Delhi edition.

On the Uber Cup front, Malaysia have seen action 12 times and reached the quarterfinals in the 2008 and 2010 editions.

Women's doubles player M. Thinaah wants to make good use of the experience and exposure gained at last week's Sudirman Cup for their Uber Cup challenge.

Thinaah, 23, who partners Pearly Tan, said the opportunity to play against top pairs such as world number six Greysia Polli-Apriyani Rahayu from Indonesia and Mayu Matsumoto-Misaki Matsutomo from Japan had taught them a lot.

"They're more experienced players, so we hope to bring all those lessons learned to the Uber Cup challenge. We have a mindset of giving our opponents a tough fight every time we are on the court, some netizens even say we don't typically play like women but we just want to play our game.

"So far no serious injuries, for me just some scratches and swelling as we dive a lot during in our games. There are two days to rest and train before our Uber Cup challenge starts, hope everything goes well," she said in a video from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).

The Uber Cup squad will begin their Group D challenge against hosts Denmark at 1.30 pm this Saturday (7.30 pm Malaysian time), followed by China on Sunday and Canada at 7 pm Monday (1 am, Tuesday Malaysian time).

-- BERNAMA