Malaysia is unable to compete for the 2025 Sudirman Cup and should focus on the 2026 Soup Cup title

Malaysian badminton legend Sivara Raji has called on the Malaysian badminton national team to forget about the defeat in this year's Sudirman Cup badminton mixed team competition and focus on preparing for next year's Thomas Cup. He said that compared to the Su Cup, if Malaysia can participate in the soup cup with the strongest team, it will have a better chance of competing for the championship.

Sivarach said the Malaysians do not have enough depth and overall quality to win the Sudirman Cup, and should focus on challenging for next year's Soup Cup

Without the number one men's singles player Lee Zi Jia, the Malaysian badminton team failed to reach the quarterfinals in this year's Su Cup, failing to achieve its goal of advancing to the final to create the best record in history (Malaysia has previously reached the semi-finals three times before), and Sivaraji pointed out Malaysia's shortcomings ——- the lack of balance in the squad.

Without Lee Zi Jia and former Malaysian national number one men's singles Huang Zhiyong, Malaysia's competitiveness in men's singles is insufficient, while women's singles has long been Malaysia's weakest link. "Even though we have strong doubles, we still can't compete with strong teams like China, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan, this is not a team that can win and even reach the finals, and our doubles players are under a lot of pressure in every match."

Looking forward to the healthy return of Li Zijia and Huang Zhiyong. Siwaraji also said that even though doubles is Malaysia's strong point, the overall strength is still lacking, "Tan Kang Lok and Tina are the only consistent pairs in our Women's Doubles, but they are often unable to cope with the world's top players. Therefore, he pointed out that Malaysia has a better chance of winning the title if they can play with the strongest team in the men's team competition. If Lee Tsz Ka and Wong Chi Yong can return and stay fit, combined with our strong Men's Doubles pairing, we have a chance. ”

At the same time, Siwara also urged Liang Junhao, who was the No. 1 men's singles player in this year's Su Cup, to show a more consistent performance. "Liang Junhao often starts well, but he lacks stamina, he needs better stamina, and if he can become more consistent, our soup cup squad will be more powerful."

World No. 26 Liang Junhao has made three appearances at this year's Su Cup, winning both of his group stage matches against France and Japan, including a victory over Japan's world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka. But when he came to the top 8 to face China's world No. 1 Shi Yuqi, it is obvious that there is a huge gap between Liang Junhao and the world's top players in terms of strength. Malaysia have won the Soup Cup five times, the last time was back in 1992, and the last time they reached the final was in 2014.