Iskandar aims to step up at Asian team meet in Vietnam

KUALA LUMPUR: Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin is back from injury and hopes to justify his inclusion in the Malaysian side for the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from Feb 14-19.

He will play first singles for Malaysia in the mixed team event in the absence of world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei.

He will also compete in the National Championships, which he missed last year. He is the top seed for the RM270,000 national meet in Ulu Kinta, Perak, from Feb 19-25.

Iskandar was unable to defend his national title last year because he failed to qualify for the National Grand Prix Finals. He had a tight international schedule last year and it led to him moving from outside of No. 100 to No. 23 in the world ranking within a year.

The 25-year-old Iskandar reported for training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday after undergoing rehabilitation for a lower back injury.

The injury forced him to pull out from the Malaysian Masters in Sibu, Sarawak, two weeks ago.

“I’m better now, but I must start with light training. I’m sure I’ll be ready for the mixed team event,” said Iskandar.

The others in the team bound for Ho Chi Minh City are Lim Chi Wing (men’s singles); Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (men’s doubles); Ho Yen Mei, Lee Ying Ying (women’s singles); Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Lim Yin Loo-Yap Cheng Wen (women’s doubles); and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles).