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Badminton: Malaysia get help from former rivals

By Super
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Google Oneindia News

Sydney: With the Sidek brothers gone, Malaysia are getting help from two former rivals in a bid for men's badminton medals at the Sydney Olympics.

The brothers, who have accounted for two of Malaysia's three Olympic medals, are not in Sydney, but Malaysia hope to reach the medal podium again with the help of coaches from arch-rivals China and South Korea.

"I took over just six weeks ago, so the time is quite short but we will try our best," Han Jian, a former world champion for China, said on Wednesday.

Han, coach of the men's singles team, was appointed by South Korean Park Joo Bong, who took over as head coach earlier in the year after Malaysia's poor showing in the Thomas Cup.

Han was China's top player in the 1980s while Park won a gold in doubles in Barcelona in 1992, when badminton became an Olympic sport.

All of Malaysia's Olympic medals have come from badminton, with brothers Jalani and Razif Sidek getting a bronze in the men's doubles in 1992, and a third brother, Rashid, a men's singles bronze in Atlanta.

The best showing was by Yap Kim Hock and Cheah Soon Kit, who took the silver in Atlanta after narrowly losing to the top-seated Indonesian pair Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja.

Malaysia have one seeded player in the men's singles, Wong Choong Hann, who is seeded fifth. Han considers him an outsider who could make at least the quarter-finals.

A chance

"He has a chance, he meets a Chinese player (Xia Xuanze) in the quarter-finals, and that will be tough," Han said.

Xia is the fourth seed and considered a medal prospect, but Wong said after training on Wednesday that he could do well.

"I'm looking forward to playing him. I have to be very well prepared mentally and physically to get past him," he said.

Wong said working with Han had improved his mental game.

"I think it has helped my game quite a bit, he has improved my tactics," he said. For the other Malaysian in the men's singles, Ong Ewe Hock, the route is a little tougher as it goes through top-seeded Taufik Hidayat in the round of 16.

"That will be tough. They met in the Indonesian Open. Ong lost but it was very, very close," said Han, who communicates with his players in Chinese.He said that because of the sport's popularity in Malaysia, there was a lot of pressure on the players.

"In Malaysia, all the hope is on them," Han said. Yap and Cheah have qualified again but are unseeded. They could meet Mainaky and Subagja, who are competing in their third Olympics, again in the quarter-finals.

Another Malaysian pair, Choong Tan Rook and Lee Wan Yuen, are seeded fifth, with Indonesia's Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan the favourites, followed by Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung of South Korea.

(c) Reuters Limited.

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