PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia (pic) should be part of the team for the Thomas Cup Finals from April 27-May 5 in Chengdu.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria hopes Zii Jia, who is the country’s No. 1, will join the team for the prestigious team meet.
The world No. 11 has still not made his decision on whether to compete in the Thomas Cup or focus on his preparations for the Paris Olympics in July.
With the country’s No. 2 and world No. 18 Ng Tze Yong’s participation also uncertain due to fitness, Malaysia are in a tough position heading into the tournament.
The deadline for releasing the team list for the team meet is on April 13.
“I believe that all our top players should be part of the team regardless of whether, it’s Zii Jia, Tze Yong or (Leong) Jun Hao,” said Norza after chairing a BAM council meeting at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
“We want to have a high quality team to fight in the tournament. Not many get the opportunity to play for the country.
“The players’ services for the country will be appreciated and remembered by every Malaysian.
“Players from other countries will give anything to fight for the country as this opportunity is very valuable,” added Norza.
Norza also said that Malaysia would stand a better chance of reaching the latter stages in the Thomas Cup if a full strength team were named.
A strong team finished runners-up in the Asia Team Championships in Shah Alam in February.
Malaysia were without both Zii Jia and Tze Yong in the final against China and lost 0-3.
“If you see in the Asia team meet, we named a strong team and we managed to reach the final,” said Norza.
“We didn’t win the tournament as we were missing some players in the final but overall, we we still performed well. So, I hope we can have our best possible team in Chengdu.”
Ideally, based on the world rankings, it will be good to have five singles – Zii Jia, Tze Yong, Jun Hao, Cheam June Wei and Justin Hoh; and five doubles players from these three pairs – Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
But the national body may add some surprise elements by choosing others ranked lower too.
