Kuala Lumpur: Chief coach Yap Kim Hock said Monday the national badminton team's prime target this year is the Beijing Olympics and not the Thomas cup finals to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 11-18.The ultimate target for the shuttlers this year was to win the gold in the Olympic Games in August after the disappointing outing in the 2004 Athens Olympics, he said.
"Our main goal is to bounce back from defeat and produce the first gold medal for the country in badminton," he told Bernama.
The first Olympic medal for Malaysia came from brothers Razif and Jalani Sidek who won the bronze in the men's doubles event during the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
However, Kim Hock said that the team would still stay focused and play their best in the Thomas Cup as the expectations are higher for the men to do well in the competition which Malaysia last won in 1992 in Kuala Lumpur.
"Our preparations are going very well with the centralised training camp to be held for the players in the squad for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals at Bukit Jalil from April 28 to May 7 after a disappointing campaign in the Asian Badminton Championship (ABC) in Johor Baharu last week," said Yap who with Cheah Soon Kit won Malaysia's second Olympic medal, when they delivered a silver in the men's doubles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Despite the poor outing for the national shuttlers in ABC, Yap said he was satisfied with the performance of certain players.
"With (Wong) Choong Hann and (Mohd) Hafiz (Hashim) showing improvement in their games, Kien Keat/Boon Heong proved that their combination still works despite losing to the South Korean pair in the semi-finals," he said.
He said the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) was expected to announce the squad for the Thomas and Uber Cups this week during the coaching and training meeting.
The top three ranked men's singles players are Lee Chong Wei, Choong Hann and Hafiz while the three doubles pairs, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and Mohd Faizurizizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif are expected to be included in the list.
Kim Hock said that for the Uber Cub, the players were Wong Mew Choo, Julia Wong, Anita Raj Kaur and Lydia Cheah and the doubles pair of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty.
The other doubles players up for selection are Mooi Hing Yau, Ooi Yu Hang, Fong Chew Yen, Ng Hui Lin, Goh Liu Ying, Woon Khe Wei and Lim Pek Siah. - Bernama
