PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have a good chance of having six representatives in the prestigious season ending World Tour Finals from Dec 11-15 in Hangzhou.
Last year, only men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei made the cut for the Finals.
This time, it could be a much better showing from the country’s shuttlers as Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles), Mohd Haikal Nazri-Choong Hon Jian, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (men’s doubles), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles), Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie (mixed doubles) are all well placed to qualify based on their current positions in the Race to Hangzhou rankings.
Only the top eight players in the Race to Hangzhou rankings upon the completion of the World Tour competitions this year can make the cut.
Zii Jia is currently in fifth spot while Haikal-Hon Jian and Sze Fei-Izzuddin are in sixth and seventh place respectively.
Pearly-Thinaah jumped from 11th to eighth place after finishing runners-up in the Korean Open while Tang Jie-Ee Wei (No. 2) and Soon Huat-Shevon (No. 3) look comfortable in the current standings.
In the men’s doubles, the Malaysian pairs are set for a tough battle with each other as Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (No. 8) and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 11) still have a chance of overtaking their teammates.
A country is only allowed two representatives if both are ranked in the top eight.
In 2022, Malaysia also had six representatives when Aaron-Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (men’s doubles), Pearly-Thinaah, Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien (women’s doubles), Soon Huat-Shevon and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (mixed doubles) all qualified.
The remaining tournaments rated World Tour Super 500 and above this year are the Hong Kong Open which starts today, China Open (Sept 17-22), Arctic Open (Oct 8-13), Denmark Open (Oct 15-20), Japan Masters (Nov 12-17) and China Masters (Nov 19-24).
