'No value, no place'

By Fabian Peter - June 18, 2020 @ 9:00am

THEIR world rankings will not matter if Malaysia's independent shuttlers cannot add value to the Thomas Cup squad.

This was stated by BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann as the national body get ready to accept short-listed professionals on July 15 for the Thomas and Uber Cup centralised training programme at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals are scheduled to take place in Aarhus, Denmark, on Oct 3-11.

BAM's elite shuttlers under the Road to Tokyo (RTT) programme have started training this month after receiving the nod from the government in May.

After sports training and recreational activities have been given the greenlight to resume under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), BAM are expected to bring back their backup players on 
July 1, before opening its doors to independent players.

"We have not finalised the names but we do have a rough idea of some of the players we are expecting to join us next month.

"For the whole month of June, we only have a small group of players, consisting those under the RTT programme and their sparring partners.

"We still have our young backup players and the independent players, who must fight it out to earn their spots in the Thomas and Uber Cup squads.

"Initially, we would look at rankings and their past performance, but we want players that can add value to the squad," said Choong Hann.

Top men's singles, Lee Zii Jia and Cheam June Wei are almost certain to make the squad but BAM still have plenty of options with former Asian junior champion, Leong Jun Hao and the talented trio of Ng Tze Yong, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and Lim Chong King at their disposal.

If that is not all, 2014 Thomas Cupper, Liew Daren and former BAM shuttler Soong Joo Ven have also staked their claims for Thomas Cup action.

For the men's doubles, apart from Sea Games champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, the two remaining slots will be a three-way fight among national No 2, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, 2016 Olympics silver medallists, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and this year's Thailand Masters champions, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.

"All these players have got an equal chance to make the squad.

"If the independent players cannot add value to the team, then we might as well give our younger players the chance to play in a big tournament like this.

"We still have time, so let's wait and see when the players do finally join our training camp," added Choong Hann.

Having a mix of both national and independent players had worked in BAM's favour in the past.

At the Asia Team Championships in February, Malaysia went all the way to the final, beating the likes of Japan and South Korea, before losing 3-1 to Indonesia.