Malaysian Thomas Cup Lineup Announced

Men's Singles
Lee Chong Wei
Wong Choong Hann
Hafiz Hashim
Arif Latif

Men's Doubles
Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah
Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong
Mohd. Zakry/Mohd. Fairuzizuan

Everything is pretty much expected, except for the 4th Singles position of Arif Latif. He was selected above veteran Lee Tsuen Seng for the Thomas Cup tie. I believe this is a very bad decision. As I commented before:

I can NOT imagine Arif playing as the 4th Singles for the Malaysian team, and managing to pull off a win against the more formidable opponents. Lee Tsuen Seng has experience playing (and upsetting) in the Thomas Cup, and other than his stamina, is a superb player.

The 4th singles is supposed to be a reserved player, hence, Tsuen Seng most probably will be only used for perhaps 1 game when any one of the players want to rest. Hence, he is the perfect player in Malaysia for that position - good skills, but low stamina is a perfect 4th singles player.

Skill wise, Arif is a good player, but Tsuen Seng is the obvious obvious choice. I have seen both play, and cannot see how Arif is the better choice.

Is BAM serious about winning the Thomas Cup, or are they just using it as a jumping board for the future? The Malaysian team are now going into the TC knowing that if any one of the Singles players are injured, they don't have a reliable chance.

This also increasing the pressure on the players to NOT go all out, and reducing the chances of an injury. They know that if they get injured, it is game over, while with Tsuen Seng, he still can work some of his 'magic'.

Bad choice BAM! Bad decision!