KUALA LUMPUR: The national badminton squad should have no problems reaching at least the semi-finals of the 2023 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship (BAMTC) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Feb 14-19.
In the virtual draw conducted in Dubai today, fourth-seeded Malaysia have been placed in Group B with India, Kazakhstan and the UAE.
On paper, only India are seen to be a ‘thorn in the flesh’ at the group stage for the national shuttlers.
Meanwhile, defending champions and top seeds China are expected to go far again after being drawn in Group A with South Korea, Singapore and Uzbekistan, while Group C looks well-balanced with third seeds Indonesia pitted against Thailand, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon.
Group D has second seeds Japan up against Taiwan, Hong Kong and Pakistan.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have named their strongest line-up for the Dubai challenge, having included the likes of professional men’s singles ace Lee Zii Jia (pix) and reigning men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Malaysia have never won the tournament, losing in the quarter-finals of the first edition in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2017 and at the same stage again in the 2019 edition in Hong Kong. -Bernama
