KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia are expected to face an uphill battle when they meet defending champion, China in the Thomas Cup semifinals at the Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil at 7.30pm tomorrow.
Based on their rankings and match records of the two countries, China clearly are in a better position to win.
In the Malaysian camp, however, much hope is placed on Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the first singles and the first doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong to deliver Malaysia's first two points tomorrow.
Although it is a tall order, they have no choice but to win their respective matches to pave the way for Malaysia to proceed to the final.
If the Malaysian first singles and first doubles pair were to succeed in producing the two crucial points, the big question mark will then be who are we banking on to deliver the deciding point.
The subsequent player in the Malaysian line-up is the second singles, Wong Choong Hann, followed by the second doubles pair and the third singles, Mohd Hafiz Hashim.
Is Choong Hann, who is now 33, capable of achieving this feat or will it be up to the second doubles or Mohd Hafiz to continue his outstanding performance when he beat Denmark's Joachim Persson, last night to take Malaysia to the semifinals.
National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek said Malaysia actually has no choice but to ensure that world number one singles shuttler Chong Wei beat Beijing Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan, and Koo/Tan beat Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong.
"Malaysia must collect two points from the first singles and first doubles and hope that either one of the other singles player or the other doubles pair will deliver the third point," he told reporters, here Thursday.
Malaysia last won the prestigious Thomas Cup in 1992 here.
He said that on paper, Chong Wei has a 50-50 chance of winning when facing Lin Dan, who is one rung below him in the world ranking, but they had not met each other for quite some time.
The last time Chong Wei played Lin Dan was in the semifinals of the China Masters Championship in September last year where the Malaysian lost in three sets, 20-22, 21-15, 7-21.
The match record between Chong Wei and Lin Dan previously was 6:13 in favour of the latter.
Meanwhile, Koo/Tan, the world number one doubles pair, has a match record of 3:4 against the China top pair of Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong, ranked fifth in the world.
However, if China decides to rest Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong and field Cai Yun/Fi Haifeng instead, the Malaysian pair has a match record of 2:0 against the China pair.
Meanwhile Choong Hann, who lost 17-21, 18-21 to Sho Sasaki from Japan in the Group B match and was again defeated by Danish player, Jan O Jorgensen in three sets, 20-22, 21-16, 18-21 in the quarterfinals yesterday, said he has regained his touch.
"My match momentum is improving although I lost in the two previous matches," said the player who had competed in six editions of the Thomas Cup previously.
Based on the match record, if China were to field their second singles Chen Jin, who is also ranked third in the world, the Malaysian shuttler trails 2:6.
While Malaysia's third singles Mohd Hafiz, ranked 22nd in the world, is tied at 2:2 with China's third singles, Bao Chunlai, who is the world number eight.
-- BERNAMA
Based on their rankings and match records of the two countries, China clearly are in a better position to win.
In the Malaysian camp, however, much hope is placed on Datuk Lee Chong Wei in the first singles and the first doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong to deliver Malaysia's first two points tomorrow.
Although it is a tall order, they have no choice but to win their respective matches to pave the way for Malaysia to proceed to the final.
If the Malaysian first singles and first doubles pair were to succeed in producing the two crucial points, the big question mark will then be who are we banking on to deliver the deciding point.
The subsequent player in the Malaysian line-up is the second singles, Wong Choong Hann, followed by the second doubles pair and the third singles, Mohd Hafiz Hashim.
Is Choong Hann, who is now 33, capable of achieving this feat or will it be up to the second doubles or Mohd Hafiz to continue his outstanding performance when he beat Denmark's Joachim Persson, last night to take Malaysia to the semifinals.
National singles chief coach Rashid Sidek said Malaysia actually has no choice but to ensure that world number one singles shuttler Chong Wei beat Beijing Olympic gold medallist Lin Dan, and Koo/Tan beat Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong.
"Malaysia must collect two points from the first singles and first doubles and hope that either one of the other singles player or the other doubles pair will deliver the third point," he told reporters, here Thursday.
Malaysia last won the prestigious Thomas Cup in 1992 here.
He said that on paper, Chong Wei has a 50-50 chance of winning when facing Lin Dan, who is one rung below him in the world ranking, but they had not met each other for quite some time.
The last time Chong Wei played Lin Dan was in the semifinals of the China Masters Championship in September last year where the Malaysian lost in three sets, 20-22, 21-15, 7-21.
The match record between Chong Wei and Lin Dan previously was 6:13 in favour of the latter.
Meanwhile, Koo/Tan, the world number one doubles pair, has a match record of 3:4 against the China top pair of Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong, ranked fifth in the world.
However, if China decides to rest Chen Xu/Guo Zhendong and field Cai Yun/Fi Haifeng instead, the Malaysian pair has a match record of 2:0 against the China pair.
Meanwhile Choong Hann, who lost 17-21, 18-21 to Sho Sasaki from Japan in the Group B match and was again defeated by Danish player, Jan O Jorgensen in three sets, 20-22, 21-16, 18-21 in the quarterfinals yesterday, said he has regained his touch.
"My match momentum is improving although I lost in the two previous matches," said the player who had competed in six editions of the Thomas Cup previously.
Based on the match record, if China were to field their second singles Chen Jin, who is also ranked third in the world, the Malaysian shuttler trails 2:6.
While Malaysia's third singles Mohd Hafiz, ranked 22nd in the world, is tied at 2:2 with China's third singles, Bao Chunlai, who is the world number eight.
-- BERNAMA
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