Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) singles head coach Datuk Misbun Sidek shot down reports in the local media that there are imminent changes in the singles department.
The reports quoted national No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei who was quoted as saying changes are expected in the department after Malaysia’s failure to achieve the initial target of reaching the semi-finals in last month’s Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok, Thailand.
Malaysia finished second in Group D behind Denmark. In the quarter-finals, the Malaysians who last won the Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1992, fell to a 3-1 defeat to Indonesia.
Chong Wei, Lee Zii Jia, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Leong Jun Hao were in the team to Bangkok.
“It is not easy to drop the players as we have only 11 players in the singles department. I am not aware of any decision to drop the players,” Misbun was quoted in the local media.
The others in the squad are former Asian junior champion Soo Teck Zhi, Soong Joo Ven, Chong Yee Han and Lim Chi Wing – who have not made any headway in international tournaments.
Misbun had a solid reason for keeping the present squad and said: “If the seniors are dropped the juniors will not have sparring partners in training.”RIZAL ABDULLAH
