2026 Thomas Cup: Malaysia Can End Over Three-decade Drought In Denmark - Rashid Sidek

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) -- National badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek believes Malaysia can finally end a wait of more than three decades to lift the coveted Thomas Cup in the 2026 edition in Horsens, Denmark.

Rashid said Malaysia now have a strong team, especially in the men's doubles, which currently dominates the top two rankings in the world through the professional pairs of Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and former 2022 World champion Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.

“We have two good men’s doubles. In singles, we have Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao. However, emphasis needs to be given to the singles to further improve the quality of their play.

“If we have two doubles and two singles players who are more or less equal, I think the team will be stable and can lift the Thomas Cup,” he said at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and the launch of the badminton film ‘Sentuhan Wira’ here today.

Directed by Lenny Ooi, ‘Sentuhan Wira’ which is expected to be released in cinemas next year, retraces the historical moment of Malaysia’s (men's team's) last victory in the Thomas Cup for the 1992 edition in the national capital through the success of defeating traditional arch-rivals Indonesia 3-2.

Rashid, who was one of the heroes of the 1992 Thomas Cup squad, hopes the film produced by Victory Pictures will indirectly inspire the national shuttlers to maintain their fighting spirit on the court.

The film produced by Victory Pictures is the brainchild of Rashid and another national badminton legend Datuk Cheah Soon Kit, with both acting as film advisors, helping with script development, technical research, and ensuring that Malaysia's history of success in the 1992 Thomas Cup is accurately portrayed and immortalised on the silver screen.

Apart from the 1992 edition, Malaysia also emerged as Thomas Cup champions in the 1949, 1952, 1955 and 1967 editions.

Meanwhile, Rashid, the former 1996 Atlanta Olympic men's singles bronze medallist, said a big task awaits former national men's singles player Iskandar Zulkarnain, who was officially appointed as the national women's singles coach by the Badminton Association of Malaysia on Monday.

He said Iskandar is still new to the coaching field despite having served as the full-time coach of the Irish badminton squad in 2022.

Iskandar's big success in Ireland was guiding the country's men's singles player, Nhat Nguyen, to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. He starts with BAM on Oct 1 at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM).

-- BERNAMA