Skip to main content

Julia as good as in team for Sudirman Cup

By RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s singles shuttler Julia Wong is virtually assured of a place in the Malay­sian team for the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships in Guangzhou from May 10-17.

But the race is open for the re­­maining spot in the team for a men’s back-up squad player.

National chief coach Rashid Si­dek said that Julia had justified her selection with good performances in the India Open while the men’s back-up squad singles player will only be named after the Asian Championships (ABC) in Suwon, South Korea, from April 7-12.

The 21-year-old Julia came close to winning her first international Open title in Hyderabad on Sunday. She went down fighting to Pi Hongyan of France in the final.

Julia Wong posing on the podium with her medal and cheque in Hyderabad on Sunday. - AFP

“Julia used to be a drab player and known for engaging her opponent in long rallies. But she now has more flair in her game,” said Rashid.

“She now dares to attack her opponents with powerful smashes. But there is still a lot more for her to improve on to become a complete player.

“We will name her in the team for the Sudirman Cup together with Wong Mew Choo. The mixed team event will be another platform for her to show what she is capable of.”

If Mew Choo, who was beaten in the quarter-finals at the India Open, is unable to raise her game, it is likely that Julia will be given the task to play a more prominent role for the team in the Sudirman Cup.

Rashid added that Tan Chun Seang was currently the front-runner for a place in the team based on his commendable showing in the India Open.

He knocked out two seeded play­ers — Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam and Anup Sridhar of India — before going down to Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto in his first quarter-final appearance in an international tournament.

Currently, only world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei takes the men’s singles spot in the team.

“In the last few tournaments, different back-up players showed good results. It is not easy to make a pick. But on current form, Chun Seang is ahead,” said Rashid.

“I will wait until after the ABC before naming the top back-up player for the team to Guangzhou. This is the last chance for them to make an impression.”

Besides Chun Seang, three other back-up players — Chong Wei Feng, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif and Liew Daren — will also compete in the ABC. Wei Feng, probably, will have more to prove after losing to compatriot Chan Kwong Beng in the third round of the India Open.

The team for ABC

Men’s singles: Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Kuan Beng Hong, Chong Wei Feng, Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, Tan Chun Seang, Liew Daren.

Men’s doubles: Lin Woon Fui-Hoon Thien How, Mak Hee Chun-Tan Wee Kiong, Khoo Chung Chiat-Ong Soon Hock.

Women’s singles: Wong Mew Choo, Julia Wong, Lydia Cheah, Tee Jing Yee, Sanntasah Saniru.

Women’s doubles: Woon Khe Weo-Marylen Ng Poau Leng, Goh Liu Ying-Nairul Suhada Abdul Latif, Amelia Anscelly-Lim Yin Loo.

Mixed doubles: Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Woon Khe Wei, Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying, Ong Jian Guo-Sabrina Chong, Lim Khim Wah-Marylen Ng Poau Leng.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more