Men's doubles Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will definitely make Malaysia's Thomas Cup team.
However, the world No 17 are unlikely to play an important role at the Bangkok edition in May as they are only ranked third in the country.
Those ranked above Sze Fei-Izzuddin in Malaysia are world No 7 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world No 11 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
The BA of Malaysia (BAM), in a move to turn their team into contenders, will include independent players for the Thomas Cup.
With that, independent pair Yew Sin-Ee Yi will likely get the nod for the Thomas Cup as the second-ranked pair behind Aaron-Wooi Yik with Sze Fe-Izzuddin being the reserve pair.
However, Sze-Izzuddin have a chance to change that by making an impression in 'Open' tournaments.
On Thursday, Sze Fei-Izzuddin showed their mettle by overcoming Denmark's Joel Eipe-Daniel Lundgaard 21-13, 21-14 in the second round of the German Open.
And that had lined them up with a quarter-final meeting against the sixth seeded Yew Sin-Ee Yi, who slogged to beat England's Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 21-15, 14-21, 21-17, late yesterday.
"I think we played well against the Danish pair," said Izzuddin.
"We made our shots well and pressured them with our attacking play and that forced them into making errors."
Meanwhile, independent women's pair Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien reached their third BWF World Tour quarter-finals of the year after beating Scotland's Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance 21-14, 19-21, 21-16.
The world No 61, who also made the last eight of the India Open and Syed Modi International, played top seeds Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan of China late yesterday.
RESULTS (MALAYSIANS ONLY) — 2ND RD, Men's singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-13, 18-21, 21-12;
Doubles: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Joel Eipe-Daniel Lundgaard (Den) 21-13, 21-14; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 21-15, 14-21, 21-17;
Women's doubles: Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien bt Julie Macpherson-Ciara Torrance (Scot) 21-14, 19-21, 21-16;
Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing bt Gregory Mairs-Jenny Moore (Eng) 21-16, 10-21, 21-18.