SHAH ALAM, Jan 18 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are targeting the national team to reach at least the semi-finals of next month’s Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) to clinch an automatic spot in the prestigious Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals in April.

BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said they will let the coaching team, led by Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky, decide on the player lineup.

He is confident they will name the strongest team for the BATC 2024 to be held at the Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam from February 13-18.

"Perhaps the coaching team still needs some time (to decide on the lineup). We are still waiting for the list of players because the closing date for player registration is January 26.

"... we are targeting at least a place in the semi-finals because the top four teams from both the men’s and women’s events will qualify (for the April 28-May 5 Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China) on merit,” he told reporters after the launching of the tournament at the Courtyard by Marriot Setia Alam here today.

Asked if national men’s singles ace Ng Tze Yong, who suffered a back muscle tear in last week’s Malaysia Open, would stand a chance of being included in the national team, Kenny said it was too early to decide and asked all parties to give the 2023 Arctic Open runner-up some breathing space.

Tze Yong was forced to concede a walkover in the first round of the Malaysia Open when trailing 8-12 in the first game against Japan’s Koki Watanabe on January 10, after which he also pulled out of the ongoing India Open (January 16-21).

National men’s singles professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia is the only one known to be on the list when he confirmed, via the Team LZJ social media platform, on January 11 that he would be playing in the men’s team event.

The BATC 2024 will see 15 teams vying for a top-four finish to confirm their places in the Thomas Cup Finals. They are defending champions Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Japan, India, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Brunei.

Meanwhile, 11 teams will fight it out to qualify on merit for the Uber Cup Finals, namely China, Japan, Thailand, defending champions Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE and Kazakhstan.

In the 2022 BATC, Malaysia clinched their maiden men’s team title and shared third spot with Japan in the women’s team event. — Bernama