Hendrawan, who has a perfect record of winning all the three Thomas Cups he played in for Indonesia, said his instincts tell him that Hafiz really wants to prove he will be there (in Macau) to win matches for Malaysia.
His hunger can clearly be seen in the ongoing centralised training at Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara.
Malaysia are in a tough Group D where they must beat South Korea and Hong Kong and clear the quarter-finals in the qualifying rounds in Macau on Feb 13-19 to earn a ticket to the final rounds in Wuhan, China on May 20-29.
Malaysia's weakest link will the be third singles where Liew Daren or Arif Latif will be hard pressed to gain a point to secure victory for Malaysia and this, said Hendrawan, is another reason why Hafiz wants to secure a point in the second singles to ease the pressure on his inexperienced teammates.
Hafiz, who has gained a reputation for being inconsistent, left the BA of Malaysia (BAM) last year to become an independent player and it's only because BAM lacks a singles player with depth that the association was forced to consider him for the Thomas Cup qualifiers.
"Hafiz has been training with us for the last two weeks and he is different now. He has the hunger and wants to win matches for us in the qualifying rounds," said Hendrawan.
"He is very serious in training and wants to prove a point to everyone that he is in the team on merit.
"My instincts say he will make a big difference in our campaign in Macau and a point from him against South Korea will be very important for us.
"Daren or Arif must win if our matches go to third singles but if Hafiz wins, we could win before that.
"Hafiz has been talking about taking the pressure off the younger players and this is a good sign he wants to stand up and be counted.
"I wouldn't want to comment too much on his fitness as he only joined us for two weeks but he has been able to withstand training and should be able to sustain his condition in the qualifiers."
Malaysia must beat South Korea for an easier quarter-final against India where a win will seal a place in the final rounds.
Hafiz has the experience of playing in the Thomas Cup since 2002 and although his contribution is limited except for his debut outing, he intends to depart from the team competition on a high.
He had stated on several occasions that this will be his last Thomas Cup, and for once Hendrawan believes that Hafiz really means it.
Courtesy of New Straits Times
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