Malaysia march into men’s team regu final
MALAYSIA are assured of a silver medal in the men’s team regu event after beating host Indonesia 2-0 in the semi-finals at the Ranau Sport Hall in Palembang, yesterday.
The team’s head coach Abdul Talib Ahmad fielded the second regu as the first in the semi-final and the decision paid off as they claimed the first game 21-17, 21-13.
The second regu, however, suffered a hiccup as they dropped the first set 16-21 but bounce ed back 21-18, 21-14 to set up a mouth- watering clash against heavyweights Thailand today.
Thailand advanced to the final following their 2-0 win n over India in the other semi-final.
Abdul Talib said he switched the regus following the players performance in their final group match aagainst South Korea last Sunday.
“I decided to play Muhammad Zulkifli (Abdul Razak), Mohd Syazreen-aqmar Salehan and Muhammad Norhaffizi (Abdul Razak) in the first regu as they were effective against South Korea,” he said.
“Indonesia also fielded their main regu in the second game so I opted to field Muhamad Syahir Mohd Rosdi, Farhan Adam and Mohamad Azlan Alias. I’m glad our team pulled through.”
He was also pleased with tekong Syahir, who persevered despite suffering from cramps on his left calf.
“Syahir did not say he was having cramps initially, so I advised him to play on and fortunately, he managed to overcome the problem and played very well.”