Thomas Cup: Malaysia Go Into Semi-final Clash Driven By Winning Spirit Of 1992
KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- The spirit which drove Malaysia to win badminton's Thomas Cup for the fifth time in 1992 seems to be burning bright in the squad for this year's edition, national singles chief coach Rashid Sidek said today.
Rashid, who was a singles player in the 1992 squad, said he could feel the spirit in the current crop of players as they prepared to face China in a semi-final tomorrow.
Malaysia had qualified for the quarter-final despite losing 2-3 to Japan in a group match and went on to beat Denmark 3-2 in the quarter-final last night.
The thunderous support from Malaysian badminton fans at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil for the Malaysia-Denmark match had spurred the players on, said Rashid.
His elder brother, Misbun, who is national singles coach, said the Malaysian players had proven that they could stage a comeback when it mattered.
In 1992, when the Thomas Cup finals were held at the Stadium Negara, Malaysia won the final by beating Indonesia 3-2.
Since the Thomas Cup competition was introduced in 1948, Malaysia have won the tournament five times -- in 1949, 1952, 1955, 1967 and 1992.
Malaysia have also reached the final 13 times, the last being in 2002 in Guangzhou, China, where they lost to Indonesia 2-3. In the semi-final then, Malaysia had beaten China 3-1.
Malaysia take on China at 7.30pm tomorrow in a semi-final. The other semi-final will take place at 2.30pm between Indonesia and Japan.
Source from BERNAMA
