Hafiz, Choong Hann vow to assist Chong Wei in Malaysian mission
News 9:35 AM
ONE is awfully tired of losing in the early rounds while the other is ready to jump at a chance to represent the country again.
And together seasoned campaigners Mohd Hafiz Hashim and Wong Choong Hann have vowed to keep company with Lee Chong Wei in a mission to raise the Malaysian flag high in the men’s singles.
Hafiz and Chong Hann will get a chance to show that the “old hands” can still be counted on in their first international tournament for the year – the Malaysian Open, which will start tomorrow at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
If they can perform well, Malaysia can aim high in the Thomas Cup Finals, which will played at the same venue in May.
With no back-up shuttlers coming through, the trio of Chong Wei, Hafiz and Choong Hann seem to be the better bets to carry the challenge for Malaysia as the top three singles players in the Thomas Cup squad.
In the Korean Open, which ended on Sunday, none of the back-up players did well and it was left to Chong Wei to again bring glory to the country. He became the first Malaysian to win a title in the Korean Open since its inception in 1991.
Former All-England champion Hafiz, who showed some promise towards the end of last year, said that he was determined to support Chong Wei in international tournaments this year.
“The hope is high on me to follow in the footsteps of Chong Wei. With the Thomas Cup Finals coming up, Malaysia need the singles players to up their game,” he said.
“This is the motivation for me to take my game to greater heights this year. I have given better commitment in training (under Hendrawan) over the last few months. Hopefully, it will start to bear fruit in the Malaysian Open.
“I am tired of losing in the early round. I want to do consistently well this year and I am looking at nothing less than the quarter-finals in an Open tournament.”
Hafiz, who spars daily with Tan Chun Seang, Chong Wei Feng, Liew Daren and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif and Kuan Beng Hong, said that the national back-up players were stuck at mediocrity because of the lack of fire.
“They still have too much respect for their opponents. I will do my best to help fan the fire in them. They have to bring out quality for the world to see,” said Hafiz.
The 33-year-old Chong Hann, who left the national team after the 2008 Beijing Olympics to seek fortunes as an independent player on the international stage, has made himself available for selection.
“It is not my battle to fight for a place in the Thomas Cup squad. But if my services are needed, I am ready to grant them,” he said.
“With better practice and concentration, I am confident that I will still be able to play good badminton.”
Meanwhile, both Hafiz and Choong Hann will benefit from the withdrawal of world champion Lin Dan of China from the Malaysian Open.
Under new rules for the Super Series, a re-draw is not carried out even if seeded players withdrew. Instead, players will be promoted from the qualifying tournament into the main draw.
With Lin Dan out, the top players in the same half of the draw as Hafiz and Choong Hann are third seed Peter-Gade Christensen of Denmark, Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and Chetan Anand of India.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 9:35 AM.
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