M’sia should be wary of Thailand in ATC

ALOR SETAR: Despite being seen in a comfortable group, the national squad is still not assured of an easy path at the 2018 Badminton Asia Team Championships (ATC).

The men’s team was drawn into group C with Thailand and Taiwan who could be dangerous opponents in the competition from February 6 to 11 at Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium in Alor Setar, Kedah.

Apart from Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan, the fourth team in group C is Myanmar.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) honourary secretary Datuk Ng Chin Chai said based on the draw today, the national squad should be careful with Thailand who could prevent Malaysia from topping the group.

“Based on our present team, I feel we have a good chance of beating Taiwan. But we have a dark horse team, Thailand who could spoil things for us from topping the group,” he said after the draw held here yesterday.

The Badminton Asian Team Championships is now the platform to qualify for the Thomas and Uber Cup final round in Bangkok, Thailand from May 20 to 27.

Based on the competition format, the top two teams will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Malaysia needed to advance to least the semi-finals to book a berth to the Thomas Cup final round on merit.

Failure to get into the top four teams of the championships means Malaysia will have to wait for the results of other teams and their world rankings to catch a slot in the Thomas Cup.

Top seeds, China are leading group A with Hong Kong and Singapore while second seeds, Indonesia are drawn with India, Philippines and Maldives in group D.

Group B will see 2014 champions, Japan facing South Korea, Nepal and Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, Chin Chai said the national squad would have no problem qualifying for the quarter-finals.

“However, we hope they could upset Thailand to top the group for an easier quarter-finals challenge,” he said.

Malaysia were drawn into group Y with Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines.