KUALA LUMPUR: In the possible absence of world No. 11 Lee Zii Jia and No. 18 Ng Tze Yong, Malaysia may not even get past the group stage of this year's Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China.
For the record, the last time Malaysia failed to clear the group stage was 24 years ago when only 10 teams competed in the prestigious world team championships.
The BA of Malaysia (BAM) has yet to announce the finalised squad list, but likely, both Zii Jia and Tze Yong will not participate in this year's edition, scheduled on April 27-May 5.
Last week, independent shuttler Zii Jia conveyed to BAM that he might opt out of the Thomas Cup to concentrate on his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
Separately, Tze Yong is fighting against time to recover from spinal disc surgery.
According to former international and Thomas Cup winner Rashid Sidek, it will be a tall order for a weakened Malaysian side to overcome Hong Kong in Group D, let alone think of defeating European champions Denmark.
Minnows Algeria complete the group, but only the top two teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
"Truthfully, without our top two singles players, Malaysia may not make it past the group stage of the Thomas Cup.
"I am not trying to undermine anyone but am speaking based on facts. Hong Kong have two good singles players (world No. 14 Lee Cheuk Yiu and world No. 26 Angus Ng), and their third might be better than ours.
"Many may argue that Leong Jun Hao is a solid team player, but has he played first singles for Malaysia and delivered?
"Let's not even think about Denmark, who have confirmed their strongest lineup," said Rashid when contacted by Timesport.
Boasting the likes of world No. 1 and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, world No. 4 Anders Antonsen and men's doubles world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, Denmark are the favourites to top Group D.
Apart from the Danes, India have also confirmed their strongest lineup for this year's competition, making clear their intent to defend the title from two years ago.