Badminton News: And there is no doubt that Canada’s dangerous player is Brian Yang, the rising world No. 39.
The 19-year-old turned heads when he stunned world number 7 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia at the Sudirman Cup last week.
Brian Yang proved it on Sunday with another impressive 21-18, 19-21, 21-13 victory over world No. 13 Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan in the first men’s singles match of the Thomas Cup matches.
Canada ultimately lost 4-1 to Japan, but Yang’s performance meant he could still spoil the party for the young Malaysian team.
Brian Yang attributes his recent improvement to a stint training under former world No. 1 Peter Gade and could certainly pull the rug out from under world No. 8 Lee Zii Jia when the two players meet in the first singles match of the day.
“I trained in Denmark with Peter Gade for two months before the Sudirman Cup. I also recently trained with Tokyo Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in Dubai,” Yang said.
“My footwork has improved a lot and I have been training hard with the Canadian team to maintain my game.”
“So far I have maintained my fitness and my performance, and those two things have been key for me.”
Zii Jia, who scored an impressive victory against world number 1 Kento Momota at the Sudirman Cup last week, certainly needs to play his best to get the first point today.
“The first match is very important and Zii Jia definitely bears the responsibility for the first singles,” national coach Hendrawan told Bernama yesterday.
“On paper we should have no problem defeating Canada, but we cannot take this lightly. We have to show the best of ourselves,” added the former Indonesian world champion.
Article Tag: Brian Yang, Canada, Thomas Cup 2020
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