Thomas, Uber Cups Serve As Platform For Commonwealth Games, Says Austrlia
KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) -- The Thomas and Uber Cup tournaments which begin tomorrow, would be the best platform for the Australian badminton team to gain experience for the coming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India in October.
The team's chief coach, Lasse Bundgaard, admitted that the Australian Thomas Cup squad would not be able to compete with badminton power houses like China, Indonesia, Denmark and South Korea.
"We are here to gain experience and make ourselves well prepared for the Commonwealth Games," he told reporters here Saturday.
However, he said his charges would not give their opponents easy wins as they had nothing to lose in the tournament.
"The spirit will not fade even though the team does not have world-class players like the rest of the countries," he said.
Bundgaard said Australia might have a better chance in the Uber Cup as he felt the women's team were capable of pulling a surprise against their opponents.
Meanwhile, Australian third women's singles player, Renuga Veeran, claimed that her team's performances equalled fifth seed Denmark.
"Australia is the 10th seed in the Uber Cup but we're confident of giving our opponents a run for the money.
"We started our training early this year, so I don't see any difficulties here," said Renuga.
Australia's Thomas Cup players are Jeff Tho, Chad Whitehead, Stuart Gomez, Glenn Warfe, Raj Veeran and Ross Smith, while their Uber Cup players are Leanne Choo, Erica Pong, Renuga Veeran, Chia Chi Huang, He Tian Tang, Kate Wilson Smith and Eugenia Tanaka.
Source from BERNAMA
