Tougher than you think
Malaysian team won’t be distracted by hosts’ mind games
MANY at home believe that Malaysia will not get past the quarter-finals in the Thomas Cup Finals, which begin today at the Wuhan Sports Gymnasium Centre.
That is understandable as Malaysia do not have a balanced team.
But what is unbelievable is the mind games being played by China to rile the Malaysian team and to unsettle world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei ahead of the London Olympic Games.
Chong Wei’s picture is conspicuously missing from all the tournament banners for the Finals. The posters showed Lin Dan being sandwiched by the two top Chinese women players – Wang Yihan and Wang Xiaoli – and veterans Peter-gade Christensen of Denmark and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.
Then, during the final one-hour training by the Malaysians at the venue for the first time yesterday, the organisers began testing the loud speakers much to the annoyance of everyone inside the stadium.
The organisers also provided training slots which were inconvenient to the Malaysian team. Even the bus ferrying the Malaysian team to the training venue arrived late.
No one is allowed into the stadium when China’s Thomas Cup squad are training.
All of Malaysia’s ties will be held on television court, including their opening tie against South Africa tomorrow.
National coach Tey Seu Bock, however, is not surprised with the “treatment”, saying it was probably due to their fear of Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat-tan Boon Heong in the London Olympic Games in July.
“They have nothing to fear about us here. Our team for the Thomas Cup Finals is not strong ... China have the best team and are hot favourites to win it for the fifth time in a row. I think their focus right now is more on Chong Wei and Kien Keat-boon Heong ahead of the London Games,” said Seu Bock.
“Anyway, they can come up with all these tricks to undermine our challenge but I have advised our players not to be distracted.”
Seu Bock feels that China will avoid letting Lin Dan play against Chong Wei until the London Games.
China have surprisingly listed Lin Dan for the Thailand Open (June 5-10) and not the Indonesia Open Super Series from June 1217. The Indonesia meet will be Chong Wei’s final tournament before the London Games.
Like Seu Bock, Chong Wei took all the inconveniences in his stride, saying he was used to all the mind games.
“China gave us a one-hour slot to train at the venue. It is not enough for 10 players but, fortunately, Indonesia gave us their court as they had trained earlier,” said the team captain.
“It is okay if they do not have the world No. 1 player’s picture on the banners. As hosts, they can do whatever they want. These are small matters.
“I am used to all these. China also played a lot of mind games before the Beijing Olympics and kept Lin Dan under wraps for a few months. I will not allow all these to affect my concentration. Fortunately, I am stronger and more experienced to handle all these.”
Chong Wei said he would do his best to steer the team to a topfour finish as targeted by the Badminton association of malaysia (BAM) at the Finals.
“I am feeling good ... and so do the team after the training session. As team captain, it is my duty to lift the morale of the team, encourage the first-timers and keep the team united,” said Chong Wei, who has recovered from his cold.
“We do not have the best team but we are not throwing in the towel. Our immediate goal is to be group champions.”
Malaysia are in Group C with Denmark and South Africa. The top two teams will advance to the elimination round, where a fresh draw will be conducted after the completion of group ties on Tuesday.
Apart from China and Malaysia, the others with a chance of winning the Cup are Indonesia, Denmark, South Korea and Japan.