CHENGDU: Malaysia have a mountain to climb against China in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup Finals at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center in Chengdu today, and Rexy Mainaky just wants his boys to enjoy themselves.
While China will be under pressure to deliver a win in front of their passionate home fans, Malaysia are out to continue their good run in the tournament after stunning Japan 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
On paper though, China are the stronger team and national coaching director Rexy acknowledged it.
“China’s singles players are nearly evenly matched and equally strong,” said Rexy.
“In the doubles, it looks 50-50 for us. China will have more pressure though to win as hosts.
“For us, our team came here to give our very best and I want the boys to take this opportunity to go out there and enjoy their game.”
While China do boast world No. 2 Shi Yuqi and world No. 6 Li Shifeng in their ranks in the singles, both players have shown vulnerabilities in the team meet.
Yuqi was stretched to three games by both India’s world No. 9 H. S. Prannoy and South Korea’s world No. 47 Jeon Hyeok-jin before coming out on top while Shifeng went down to another Indian Lakshya Sen in his previous match.
Lee Zii Jia (No. 10) and Leong Jun Hao (No. 37) will be fielded against Yuqi and Shifeng respectively in the first and second singles.
In the doubles, world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will likely face world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang while Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (No. 15) will be deployed against either Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi (No. 8) or He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu (No. 11).
If the tie goes down to the wire, 20-year-old Justin Hoh could keep his place in the third singles ahead of Cheam June Wei and could go up against either Weng Hongyang (No. 16) or Lu Guangzu (No. 19).
Rexy urged the team to not be satisfied after reaching the semi-finals for the first time since the 2016 edition in Kunshan, China.
“Yes, it’s positive for the team that they have made it into their first semi-final since 2016 but the players should not be too happy yet,” said Rexy.
“They have to keep their feet on the ground and prepare well for the match against China.”
