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Injury woes for Malaysia
September 08, 2001 - Source : IBF
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Injury to Choong Tan Fook has seriously damaged any Malaysian hope of dethroning Indonesia as the men’s team champion at the biennial SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Tan Fook is nursing a knee injury and has already been dropped from the individual competition. Whether Malaysia will risk playing in the team event remains to be seen.
Tan Fook’s regular partner Lee Wan Wah will be paired off with Wong Choon Hann in the men’s doubles competition. Wan Wah is not in his best of form either. He is also nursing a back injury.
Malaysia willtheir campaign in the team competition against lowly Brunei on Sunday and are likely to come up against Singapore in the semi-finals.
Tan Fook-Wan Wah may be rested until the expected final against Indonesia. Even without the pairing, Malaysia should breeze through to the final.
But with the doubles under pressure, Malaysia’s hopes of an upset would now rests solely on their resurgent singles line-up of Roslin Hashim, Ong Ewe Hock and Wong Choong Hann.
And for the first time they will also have an Indonesian on their side – coach Indra Gunawan – to plot the downfall of the defending champions.
Malaysia has not won the men’s team title since the 1991 SEA Games in Manila. If they are going to stop the Indonesians this time, it is going to take a herculean effort from the singles.
Roslin, who announced his decision to rejoin the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) stable after quitting the Nusa Mahsuri outfit yesterday, seems to have rediscovered his form following a dip in form following his wins at the Japan and Swiss.
He will have to get the better of world champion H Hendrawan in the first singles.
Like Roslin, Ewe Hock is also in a resurgent mood, having won the Malaysianat the same venue recently.
Indonesian singles would have been more formidable had they included Taufik Hidayat. But with Taufik Hidayat, Malaysia has the chance to turn the tables.
For the third singles Malaysia can still rely on either Wong Choong Hann or Lee Tsuen Seng. Indonesia are also fielding the relatively untested Rony Augustinus and Marlev Mainaky in the singles.
All three singles match-ups could go either way, but Indonesia hold the edge in the doubles.
Former World Champions Chandra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto look formidable in the first doubles. It would not matter whether they would be up against Tan Fook-Wan Wah or Chew Choon Eng-Chan Chong Ming.
It is likely that Malaysia will field Tan Fook-Wan Wah in the final, not to gain a point but more for tactical reasons. With Tan Fook-Wan Wah playing first doubles, Choon Eng-Chong Ming will be up against the scratch pair of Bambang Suprianto-Tony Gunawan in the second doubles.
On current form, it would be a tie that would be too close to call. Indonesian coach Christian Hadinata believes that his charges have the edge.
“But the home ground support would help boost the Malaysian morale,” said Christian.
Indra, however, feels that his singles charges are in a better frame of mind and form to turn the tables.
Malaysia’s South Korean coach Park Joo Bong is also confident that Choon Eng-Chong Ming will be the perfect foil in the doubles and earn Malaysia a crucial point in the doubles.
Indonesia have received a first round bye and are likely to play Thailand in the semi-finals.
Malaysia are also looking to break the Indonesian dominance in the women’s team event. With only four teams in action, both teams will square off in the semi-finals on Monday.
Much will depend on who wins theng match. Indonesian Lidya Djaelawidjaya will be up against Ng Mee Fen in theng singles.
“Mee Fen is a plucky player and Lidya needs to be at her best,” admitted Christian.
The Malaysian girls have improved by leaps and bounds since the Commonwealth Games in 1998 while Indonesia are no longer the powers they used to be.
The winner of the tie is expected to win the gold medal as Thailand, who are expected to beat Vietnam in the other semi-finals, do not have the depth in their side.
report by S T Arasu
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