Chong Wei banking on team spirit to help Malaysia qualify

World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei is ready to play his part and help Malaysia make it past the Thomas Cup qualifying rounds, which will be held in Macau from Feb 13-19.
Malaysia have one of the weakest squads ever and have been drawn in the tough Group D with second seeds South Korea and Hong Kong.
They will have their work cut out if they aim to avoid the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the Finals for the third time.

Rising stars: Goh V Shem (right) and Lim Khim Wah will be Malaysia’s second pair in the Thomas Cup qualifiers.

Malaysia have failed to qualify for the Finals only twice – in 1973 and 1979.
But Chong Wei believes that the current team need to unite in order to pull through.
“I am aware that we do not have a strong squad, but we have nothing to lose and I am hoping for some strong team spirit to pull ourselves through,” said Chong Wei.
“We will go out there and try our very best to qualify for the Thomas Cup Finals.
“As for the match against the Koreans, I hope we can pull through with one point from singles and two more from the doubles pairs.
“It will be crucial for me to win the first singles because it will help take the pressure off the doubles pairs ... hopefully our second and third singles will be able to steal a point as well.
“For now, it is important that we focus on the group stages and nothing else.
“We must prepare ourselves as best we can for the qualifiers.”
Besides Chong Wei, the other singles players in the squad are Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Liew Daren and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif.
The doubles shuttlers include Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Hoon Thien How and Teo Kok Siang.
It looks like Chong Wei isn’t the only who thinks Malaysia can overcome South Korea.
National men’s singles head coach Rashid Sidek thinks his men can topple South Korea and make the quarter-finals as group winners.
“South Korea are very strong in the doubles and the key to scoring an upset win over them is for one of our doubles pairs to steal a point,” said Rashid.
“Even then, we definitely need two points from the singles, so Hafiz or Daren will have to deliver the goods, just like Chong Wei.
“This is our best chance because their second singles Park Sung-hwan is just recovering from an injury and may not be fully fit.
“Still, we have to be fully prepared because their third singles, Shon Wan-ho is a dangerous player.”
Courtesy of The Star