Bangkok: The head coach for the Japanese badminton team – Park Joo-Bong could be waging some sort of psychological warfare over the Malaysian team ahead of the Thomas Cup tie between both teams on Wednesday by saying his team was not in its best shape currently.
Park said that Japan’s number one men’s singles player – Kento Momota is going through a poor run of form, and its second men’s singles Kenta Tsuneyama has recently injured his wrist.
“Honestly, we are not at our best. Momota is having a tough time, and Tsuneyama just recovered from a wrist injury,” said Park.
In addition to Japan’s Thomas Cup squad, Park said that Japan’s Uber Cup squad was also experiencing similar problems as well.
“Nozomi Okuhara (women’s singles World No. 6) just recovered from injury, while Sayaka Hirota (women’s doubles World No. 3) had just returned from a big surgery,” explained Park.
“Our Uber Cup squad is also not in its best shape but we will give all we have,” continued Park.
The Japanese men’s team beat Malaysia 3-2 in 2014 to capture the Thomas Cup trophy while the Japanese women’s team overcame Thailand 3-0 to win the 2018 Uber Cup.
