Choong Hann’s ticket to world meet depends on BAM’s new selection criteria

KUALA LUMPUR: Wong Choong Hann may have left the national team six months ago but he is still in the running to qualify for this year’s World Championships in India in August.

But even if Choong Hann makes the cut, he may not get to go as his participation depends on the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) new selection criteria.

The national body have come out with a guideline on the selection of non-BAM players for major tournaments. It was meant to give BAM the flexibility to choose players based on the country’s interests first.

BAM may drop Choong Hann and name their next best youngster for the world meet if they think it will benefit them in the long run. Or they may allow Choong Hann to go if the youngster is not up to the standard.

BAM president Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said they had learnt from their mistakes.

Quite a stretch: Even if Wong Choong Hann makes the cut for the World Championships in India, he may not get to go.

In the past, they had allowed non-BAM players to compete in major tournaments and these players either fared poorly or faded into oblivion after the major tournaments.

“We have a guide for non-BAM players. If they qualify, they will have to be fit enough to compete,” said Nadzmi after a coaching and training committee meeting at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara on Friday.

“The BAM can also look at a different perspective. Will there be a future for Malaysia by sending a former international player? Or is it better to send our future potential player?”

Choong Hann is now ranked 14th in the world while Lee Chong Wei is still the world No. 1. A country can send a maximum of three players to the world meet if all of them are in the top 24 of the world rankings by May 1.

The other players ranked below Choong Hann are KLRC Bhd’s Sairul Amar Ayob and Lee Tsuen Seng (25th and 27th respectively), Mohd Hafiz Hashim (32nd), Mohd Roslin Hashim (49th), Kuan Beng Hong (50th), Chong Wei Feng (52nd), Mohd Arif Abdul Latif (59th), Tan Chun Seang (79th) and Liew Daren (80th). Based on the rankings, BAM may pick top back-up shuttler Wei Feng ahead of Choong Hann for the world meet.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 11:58 AM. Filed under News, Wong Chong Hann . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0