KUALA LUMPUR: The onus is on Ng Tze Yong to fight for a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July.
If he decides to skip the Asian Championships in Ningbo, China, on April 9-14, the 24-year-old men's singles player can kiss the Games goodbye.
But if Tze Yong overcomes his injury trauma and decides to play, he must go all out in the regional meet, which offers ranking points equivalent to a Super 1000 World Tour event.
Tze Yong, who needs to claw back into the top 16 of the Race to Paris standings by the end of April, has only played one full match this season after sustaining a lower back injury at the Malaysia Open earlier this year.
The Johor-born then picked up a spinal disc injury, which required minor surgery.
Tze Yong is currently one spot (No. 17) below the Olympic cut-off mark.
After last month's Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC), Tze Yong skipped the German Open, French Open, All England and the Spain Masters.
His only hope of qualifying for the Paris Games depends on whether he can play in the Asian Championships next month.
"I really can't say because Tze Yong has a lot of trauma from his back injury.
"If earlier the doctors said he could play two weeks after his surgery, now they're saying he needs four to six weeks, so which is it?
"From my discussion with coach Tey Seu Bock, Tze Yong is frustrated because of all the restrictions.
"He has yet to return to full-court training and is covering only a small area.
"It's like this: if Tze Yong wants to overcome this and fight for a place in the Olympics, he must play in the Asian Championships. If he doesn't, then his Paris dreams are over.
"It's all up to him," said BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
Rexy is also concerned with the injury problems ahead of the Thomas Cup on April 27-May 5.
"Am I concerned with our injury woes? Sure I am. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't.
"We don't know if Tze Yong will be fit to play, and I hope the injury sustained by Lee Zii Jia at the Swiss Open recently is not serious.
"Justin Hoh is playing in the Thailand International Challenge this week, so we will see how he performs, and the other two options are Leong Jun Hao and Eogene Ewe.
"It will be tougher naming the doubles players because everyone stands a good chance of making the team.
"Even independent players Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi will be considered.
"We will finalise in our meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) if we want to name five singles players and five doubles players for the Thomas Cup or go with four (singles) and six (doubles)," added Rexy.
For the Thomas Cup this year, Malaysia are in Group D with European champions Denmark, Hong Kong, and Algeria.