PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri have the opportunity to prove themselves ahead of the Thomas Cup Finals after they were selected for the Asia Team Championships from Feb 3-8 in Qingdao, China.
In a bold move, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have elected to omit senior stars like world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world No. 6 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and instead send back-up players for the team meet which also acts as the qualifier for the Thomas Cup Finals from April 24-May 3 in Horsens, Denmark.
World No. 17 Roy King-Arif will lead the men’s doubles and will be supported by world No. 33 Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri and Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing (No. 36).
Men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said that the move was to give the youngsters a chance to fight for a spot in the prestigious Thomas Cup.
“We want to give our second line players an opportunity to prove themselves in a team event and fight for a place in the Thomas Cup,” said Herry.
“It’s also important for the back-up players to play in these events, so that they will ready to replace the seniors in the future. Also, we want our senior players to prepare for the All-England.”
The All-England will be held from March 3-8 in Birmingham.
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, national No. 1 and world No. 23 Leong Jun Hao will also not be a part of the team this time.
National No. 2 and world No. 39 Justin Hoh has instead been entrusted to lead the men’s singles.
The 21-year-old will be joined by world No. 45 Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, world No. 86 Eogene Ewe and Kong Wei Xiang (No. 343).
Malaysia have been drawn with Indonesia and Myanmar in Group D.
Only the top two teams in the group will progress to the quarter-finals.
In the last edition in 2024, which was held in Malaysia, the team finished runners-up to China.
Meanwhile, in the women’s event, world No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah and world No. 20 Teoh Mei Xing-Go Pei Kee have not been included in the doubles.
19-year-olds and world No. 25 Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting have instead been chosen along with world No. 73 Chong Jie Yu-Vanessa Ng and Cheng Su Hui-Tan Zhing Yi (No. 76).
There were no surprises in the women’s singles though as K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, Siti Zulaikha Azmi and Oo Shan Zi have all been picked.
Malaysia will only play China in Group W and are guaranteed a spot in the last eight.
