National men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi are expecting a tough but winnable tie against India at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai next week.
Malaysia, who are top seeds alongside China, Japan and Indonesia, are in Group B with India, hosts United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.
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The national team face India in the final group game on February 16.
“India are a good team with all the players they’ve got, but we will give it everything against them. It’s important to get a win against them to get a good draw for the quarter-finals.
“We are confident of winning because we have two formidable men’s doubles pairs, along with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik. We are also appreciative to be invited for team events like this one,” they said.
Malaysia are at full strength with the likes of Lee Zii Jia and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also included in the team.
Meanwhile, India can bank on top stars such as Lakshya Sen, H. S. Prannoy and P. V. Sindhu to get them to the top of the group.
The tournament's format features five matches in each tie consisting of two singles and three doubles matches, and the top two teams from each group qualify to the last eight.
China are the defending champions after beating Japan 3-2 in the previous edition in 2019.
