Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s national men’s singles coach, Misbun Sidek, hoping the Malaysian team could bring back the Thomas Cup trophy before he leaves the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Misbun Sidek, the former No. 1 men’s singles player in Malaysia, did not rule out the possibility of leaving the BAM after the tournament.
“Yes, this could be my last stint with the team. That’s why I hope they can create surprises at the tournament. I have been always wanting Malaysia to win the Thomas Cup even during the time when I wasn’t the coach in BAM,” said Sidek.
“After few months of preparations, the team is now extremely passionate and positive, and I would the men’s singles and men’s doubles players to end the 26-year drought and bring back the Thomas Cup,” said Sidek to reporters at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) before leaving for Bangkok on Thursday.
The Malaysian Thomas Cup men’s singles department was led by Lee Chong Wei together with Lee Zii Jia, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Leong Jun Hao while the men’s doubles department were joined by Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Teo Ee Yi, Mohd Arif Latif.
Malaysia will open their campaign against Russia on Monday and then Algeria on Tuesday before finishing the group stage against defending champions Denmark on Wednesday.
Just for the record, Malaysia was stunned by Denmark 2-3 in the 2016 Thomas Cup semi-final in Kunshan, China, and Denmark ended up beating Indonesia 3-2 in the final to become the first European team to ever win the prestigious Thomas Cup.
