KUALA LUMPUR: The BA of Malaysia (BAM) have defended their decision not to select Soong Joo Ven and Goh Jin Wei for the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) by stating that the two independent players did not qualify outright for the event.
Joo Ven and Jin Wei had argued they should have been selected by virtue of being the top-ranked players in Malaysia. Joo Ven is ranked fourth among Malaysians in the men's singles world rankings, while Jin Wei is third in the women's singles rankings.
The players' eligibility list was published based on the March 15 world rankings. For the record, the deadline for final submission was on April 1.
BAM singles director Wong Choong Hann explained that the only two players who made the initial cut on merit were Lee Zii Jia and Liew Daren for the men's singles.
As for the women's singles, no Malaysian had qualified for it.
A country can send a maximum of four representatives in all five events with those who have not qualified outright can still make the list through Phase 2, provided they are nominated by their Member Association.
However, these players from the reserve list can only get promoted should there be vacant slots.
As a result, BAM nominated their Thomas and Uber Cup squad trainees Ng Tze Yong and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin for the men's singles, while S. Kisona, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, Myisha Khairul and Tan Zhing Yi were named as alternatives for women's singles.
"Unlike the Open tournaments, BAM, being the member association, have the prerogative to nominate players for the BAC," said Choong Hann.
"And in this case, we had to prioritise the national team players as the BAC is an important part of our preparations for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals next month.
"We are not going to deny the right of any independent player to contest if they had qualified on merit. For instance, Daren and the rest of the professionals in the doubles events (referring to the likes of Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi).
"Also, the BAC was only confirmed to take place in Manila three weeks ago, and we had to confirm the participation by April 1."