Kuala Lumpur: The doubles coaching director of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) – Rexy Mainaky wanted some young Malaysian players to take the Thomas Cup challenge seriously and able to perform at the best of their ability.
Among the young players in the Malaysian Thomas Cup squad were Leong Jun Hao (22 years old), Aidil Sholeh (22 years old), and Chia Weijie (22 years old).
“Everyone on the team should be ready to compete when the team needs them,” said Mainaky.
“Like Weijie, even though his men’s doubles partner – Low Hang Yee is not included in the team, he still needs to be prepared to partner with anyone from the top three men’s pairs,” added Mainaky.
“Weijie was selected because he has been very consistent in training and I think playing in the Thomas Cup Finals would be a good exposure for him,” explained Mainaky.
The top three men’s doubles pairs for the Malaysia team consist of World No. 7 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, World No. 11 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, and World No. 14 Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin.
The Malaysian Thomas Cup team will open its 2022 Thomas Cup Finals competition against England next Monday, then USA next Tuesday before meeting Japan next Wednesday.
Chia Weijie who is currently ranked World No. 202 with Low Hang Yee, was a sparring partner for the Malaysian team which competed at the delayed 2020 Thomas Cup Finals in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2021.
He is expected to take the court in the tie between Malaysia and USA next Tuesday.
