National coaching director Wong Choong Hann said Japan would be Malaysia’s biggest threat at the upcoming Sudirman Cup after the team was drawn alongside the 2019 finalists, England, and Egypt.
The draw also meant Malaysia would face the Japanese and England in back-to-back team events over the next two months.
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The Sudirman Cup takes place in Vantaa, Finland from Sept 26-Oct 3, followed swiftly by the Thomas & Uber Cup that commences two weeks later in Aarhus, Denmark.
“Japan is our biggest threat. Our preparations for the Sudirman, Thomas & Uber Cup have started and we will assess their players’ current performance before naming the final team.
“We also have to seriously view the threat posed by England, we have a chance of beating them but need to be focused and cautious,” Wong was quoted saying by Bernama, hinting that they may field a younger team against Egypt.
The top two teams from each group qualify to the quarter-finals.
Only China (11 times), South Korea (four times) and Indonesia (once) have won the Sudirman Cup since the tournament’s inception in 1989.
Malaysia’s best achievement was qualifying to the semi-finals in 2009.
Meanwhile, Malaysian para-shuttler Cheah Liek Hou was handed a favourable draw at the Tokyo Paralympics after being drawn with Ahmed Eldakrory (Egypt), Taiyo Imai (Japan) and Chinese Taipei’s Fang Jen-Yu in Group B of the men’s singles standing upper 5 (SU5).
“The draw looks easy, and Liek Hou should be able the semis as group champion. He has beaten Imai and Jen Yu previously, but he cannot take them lightly,” Cheah’s coach Rashid Sidek told New Straits Times.
Cheah is bidding to become the country’s first para-shuttler to win gold at the Paralympic Games, with the sport making its debut in Tokyo.
Didin Taresoh was meanwhile drawn in Group B of the men’s singles short stature 6 (SH 6), along with Brazil’s Vitor Goncalves Tavares and India’s Krishna Nagar.
