Malaysia's shuttlers must break Super Dan, says Sidek

DOHA, Nov 28 (Reuters) Malaysia must break world champion Lin Dan psychologically if they are to beat China to the men's badminton team gold at the Asian Games, coach Misbun Sidek said today.

Former world number one Lee Chong Wei leads the Malaysian challenge to improve on their bronze at the 2002 Games in Pusan when the team competition gets underway on Thursday.

''We have high expectations, but it could be difficult to achieve them because China and Korea are around and most of them are at the same level,'' said Sidek, a former world number two who now coaches Lee's team mate Muhammad Hafiz Hashim.

''Lin Dan is one step above...we need to take full advantage on breaking his psychology, we have to challenge his mind otherwise it's not easy to beat him.

''During the last tournament we saw that the Chinese help each other. They play to make Lin Dan go up.'' Lee said he was glad to be seeded second behind Lin for the singles competition after his experience of going into the world championships earlier this year as the top ranked player.

''In Madrid I lost in the quarter-finals against Bao chunlai...maybe I felt too much pressure,'' he said. ''But I learnt a lot, too much pressure is not good for me.

''Now I am the second seed, I feel no pressure.'' The 24-year-old said he had skipped three tournaments this year to make sure he was in shape for the Asian Games.

''This is a big tournament, it only comes once every four years,'' said the world number two. ''I'm going for a gold in men's singles. I want it for my country.'' Malaysia face Japan in their opening pool match on Thursday.

REUTERS PDS RK2025