KUALA LUMPUR: If the previous Thomas Cup is anything to go by, Malaysian badminton fans should keep their expectations low.
This was the view of Lee Zii Jia ahead of the world team championships later this week.
World No. 10 Zii Jia and the other Thomas Cuppers left today for Chengdu, China, where they will play Hong Kong in their opening Group D tie on Saturday.
Malaysia also have Algeria and European champions Denmark for company in the group.
When met at the klia 2, Zii Jia said he doesn't think too much about ending Malaysia's Thomas Cup drought.
Instead, the former All England champion believes it is better to lower expectations and maintain an underdog approach.
The last time Malaysia won the Thomas Cup was back in 1992, and the last time they reached the final was in 2014 in New Delhi.
"I don't think too much about it (ending Malaysia's Thomas Cup wait).
"In fact, the previous edition in Bangkok should serve as a good lesson for all of us.
"We were all on cloud nine after beating Japan in the group stage, but we didn't expect to lose to India in the quarter-finals.
"I believe it is best for us to lower our expectations and focus on one match at a time," said Zii Jia, who did not join the national team's one-week centralised training camp, as he had already made prior training arrangements with his coach Wong Tat Meng.
In the absence of world No. 18 Ng Tze Yong, who has to undergo another lower back surgery, Malaysia will rely on former Asian junior champion Leong Jun Hao as the second singles player, and either Cheam June Wei or 20-year-old Justin Hoh as the third.
Zii Jia pointed out that it is unfair to put the Malaysian team under undue stress, given the many setbacks they had to face before the competition.
"For players like Justin, this will be his first Thomas Cup, I don't think it's right to place such high expectations," he added.
