Kuala Lumpur: The draws for the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) were announced on Tuesday, and the Malaysian men’s team was placed in Group B alongside Japan, Singapore, and Kazakhstan; while Group A consists of defending champions – Indonesia, India, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
Men’s singles coach of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), Hendrawan who attended the drawing ceremony, said the drawing for the Malaysian men’s team was “good”, and World No. 7 Lee Zii Jia will play an important role in sealing victories for the Malaysia team.
“Zii Jia would be very important especially when facing Singapore that spearheaded by reigning World Champion – Loh Kean Yew,” said Hendrawan.
“If Zii Jia wins, players after him would face less pressure. In regards to Japan, since they are sending their second-tier players, we can probably count on Ng Tze Yong, Leong Jun Hao although their condition is not 100% yet,” added Hendrawan.
In the women’s team draw, Malaysia was grouped with defending champions Japan and India in Group Y, while South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Kazakhstan were drawn into Group Z.
On paper, Japan was the defending champions and should be the strongest women’s team at the tournament. However, only one player in their current lineup – the World No. 72 women’s singles Natsuki Nidaira who is ranked within the world’s top 100, the rest are mostly its second-tier players. Nevertheless, the Malaysian women’s team shouldn’t underestimate any of their opponents.
Badminton Asia published the line-up for the Singapore women’s team last Saturday, however, we didn’t know why the Singapore women’s team was not included in the final draw.
Teams that secured the top two positions in each group of both the men’s and women’s draw will advance to the semi-finals. The semi-finalists will be eligible for the Thomas and Uber Cup finals that will be held in Bangkok from May 8 to May 15.
