Instead of dwelling on their 2-3 loss to defending champions China at the quarterfinals, he suggested that they should shift their attention to the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, China, in May.

“The Badminton Association of Malaysia needs to have a discussion about team events and prepare well to ensure the team reaches the finals,” he said when met recently.

Chong Wei said the team needs to find their winning rhythm so that their confidence would turn into fighting spirit that they can use at the Sudirman Cup tournament.

“I made my comeback during the Sudirman Cup in China previously, where I forced myself to not lose a single match. That’s how I restored my confidence.

“Training and competing are different as your opponents are different. This is important in an athlete’s career,” Chong Wei said.

Malaysia’s loss at the BAMTC is unsurprising as it is the third quarterfinal loss in the championship, having lost previously in 2017 in Hanoi and in 2019 in Hong Kong. The 2021 tournament in Wuhan was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia had qualified for the quarterfinals as Group B runners-up. The team notched two 5-0 victories against hosts United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, and lost to India 1-4 on Thursday.