Nanning: Malaysia have been drawn in Group 1D for the 2019 BWF Sudirman Cup mixed team event that will tip off on May 19 and will play in the Chinese city of Nanning in what could be deemed as the “group of death”.
In Group 1D alongside the world ranked No. 8 Malaysia, are the 10th-time winners and World No. 2 China, and the world No. 9 India. China have always been the badminton powerhouse, it’s not going to see much success for Malaysia beating China in their first group tie.
As for India, Malaysia shouldn’t have any problems beating India if the tie between the two countries took place 7 to 10 years ago. India’s badminton has grown rapidly since then, especially in the men’s singles and women’s singles departments. Therefore, Malaysia can no longer gain the upper hands against India at their Sudirman Cup second group tie.
The grouping was drawn by BWF on Tuesday and here is the breakdown for the final draw:
Group 1A: Japan, Thailand and Russia
Group 1B: Indonesia, Denmark and England
Group 1C: Chinese Taipei, South Korea and Hong Kong
Group 1D: China, Malaysia, India
Only the top two teams in each group will proceed to the quarter-finals.
Given the tough draw, it is very likely that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will call-up some independent shuttlers such as World No. 13 men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and World No. 5 mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying to play for the Malaysian Sudirman Cup squad.
Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong and Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying had told Malaysian media early this week that they were ready to play for the Malaysian national team at Sudirman Cup if their services were needed.
In addition to serving their country, playing at Sudirman Cup would also benefit their ranking points as Sudirman Cup will be the first tournament that offers qualification points for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
