KUALA LUMPUR: While the country's top shuttlers battle it out in the European leg of the World Tour this week, the rest will have to step up to the plate and prove themselves at the Thailand International Challenge.
Among them is national men's singles player Leong Jun Hao who has also been selected to lead Malaysia's charge at the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May.
Dubbed a team event specialist, the former Asian junior champion has struggled to find his place among his more fancied teammates since joining the national senior squad in 2018.
Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) may not have made any public announcement but it's not rocket science to figure out that Jun Hao's days there are numbered.
In some ways, there is still hope for the world No 67 but only if he can turn things around for himself.
Last year, Jun Hao bagged his first World Tour title when he came out tops at the Super 100 Indonesia Masters in Malang, but this season has not gone to plan so far.
In January, the Kuala Lumpur-born even failed to make the main draw of the Thailand Masters in Bangkok.
Jun Hao, who was part of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) in February, must buck up this season.
Seeded fifth, Jun Hao will face Indonesia's Iqbal Diaz Syahputra in the opening round in Thailand.
However, he must be ready to face a stern challenge, not only from his younger national teammates such as Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, Jacky Kok and Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar but also from players such as second seed Jeon Hyoek Hin of South Korea and independent shuttler Soong Joo Ven, who is the top seed this week.
Earlier, Jun Hao had told Timesport that his goal this year is to improve on his world ranking, so he can play in higher tier tournaments.