KUALA LUMPUR: National coaching director Rexy Mainaky has urged Malaysia's women's shuttlers to capitalise on the opportunity to play world-class opponents at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) from Feb 13-18 at Shah Alam.
With the race for Olympic qualification concluding in April, participating nations are expected to take the BATC seriously as it provides ranking points for those still chasing tickets to the Paris Games in August.
BAM filled up their women's singles slots with Goh Jin Wei, K. Letshanaa, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman and Wong Ling Ching while Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah, Low Yeen Yuan, Go Pei Kee, Teoh Mei Xing and Tan Zhing Yi were the six doubles shuttlers making up the 10-woman roster.
Anna Cheong, who forms the nation's second-best pairing with Mei Xing, could not be selected due to a swollen knee, sidelining her for at least the next few weeks.
Anna's absence has weakened the current squad, making it more challenging for Malaysia to replicate their semi-final achievement from the previous edition in 2022, which earned them a place in the Uber Cup Finals.
As for the women's singles department, traditionally considered the weakest in the national team, only world No. 31 Goh Jin Wei is seen as a competent player, consistently participating in the World Tour.
Letshanaa (No. 60), Ling Ching (No. 75) and Siti (No. 242) are still relatively inexperienced.
Despite the challenges, Rexy is looking at the situation from a broader perspective.
The Indonesian maestro is eager to see how much progress the women's singles squad have made under K. Yogendran's guidance since May of last year.
"If the top teams come with their strongest lineups, it will allow us to assess the development of our women's singles shuttlers.
"We will get to see whether things have improved under Yogendran's new training system. If it's positive, this will give us the confidence that things are moving in the right direction."