Thomas-Uber Cup: World No 1 wants to give pretenders a chance

LEE Chong Wei intends to sit out the remaining matches in the Thomas Cup qualifiers to give back-up players Liew Daren and Arif Latif a chance to gain more exposure in team competitions.

Chong Wei said Daren and Arif are the players who will be shouldering the responsibilities in future major events and they should be given the chance to gain experience by playing in the semi-finals against Japan today and either in the third placing playoff tomorrow or the final on Sunday.

This will also allow Chong Wei to get some rest before continuing with his preparations for the All England on March 6-11.

Malaysia will not gain anything even if they win the qualifying rounds as the results here will have no bearing when the seedings for the Thomas Cup Finals are conducted, most likely in April.

"We have to give our young players a chance to play and gain experience. They are the ones who are going to lead the team when I retire and this is a good time to hand them that responsibility," said Chong Wei.

"I have asked the coaches to exclude me from the remaining matches so that Daren and Arif can gain experience.

"I can use the remaining days to continue with my preparations for the All England. Maybe Koo (Kien Keat) and Tan (Boon Heong) also can get a break and let the youngsters get some good experience."

National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek had  spoken about resting Chong Wei once Malaysia achieved their target of qualification even before coming to Macau and has already agreed to Chong Wei's request.

National doubles head coach Tan Kim Her also hinted that Kien Keat-Boon Heong could be given a break today so that his new combinations can be tried out.

"I said before coming here that everyone will be given a chance to play and now that we have qualified, we can do that," said Kim Her.
Courtesy of New Straits Times