GENTING HIGHLANDS, Jan 15 — The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) should send the younger squad for the Badminton Asian Team Championship (BATC) slated to be held in India next month.

Former international K. Yogendran said the time had come for Malaysia’s young shuttlers to step forward and prove their capability in the tournament instead of heavily depending on the experienced national badminton ace like Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Yogendran, who had played for the national team in the 1990s, also suggested that the squad being send to the BATC also participate in the Thomas Cup Finals as the tournament itself was the best avenue for Malaysia’s junior players to get the best exposure against illustrious opponents.

“If Chong Wei wants to exempt himself from the BATC, Malaysia will find it hard to clinch victory as we are weak in the singles event but we must remember that he (Chong Wei) has his own priority, which is the Rio Olympic Games in August.

“We can see our rivals such as Indonesia emerging victorious in several tournaments such as the SEA Games... Why? Because they sent their junior team compared to us who always depend on Chong Wei all this while,” he said when approached by reporters during the Resort World Genting Champions Challenge Badminton Championship held at the Arena of Stars here today.

National backup men’s singles shuttler Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, prior to this, expressed his desire that the BAM would consider fielding Chong Wei in the India meet as he felt the appearance of the world number five would spur the morale of the junior players.

Malaysia must finish among the top six teams in the BATC scheduled to take place at GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad from February 15 to 22. China and Japan, who are also competing in the BATC, have already qualified for the Thomas Cup Finals as the host nation and defending champion, respectively.

Meanwhile, Yogendran slammed national number two men’s singles shuttler Chong Wei Fung, who was struggling to beat Yogendran in the tournament on Wednesday despite being given many privileges by the BAM.

Wei Feng, who plays under the Kepong BC banner, went down in the first two sets against Yogendran, coach-player with Petaling Jaya Badminton Club (PJBC), in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Wednesday before making a dramatic comeback to secure a 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5) win over the Yogendran.

“I did not see any difference in the national team (performance),” said Yogendran. “I can say that our team is so embarrassing at the moment. Wei Feng, for instance, is Malaysia’s number two (behind Chong Wei) but the way he played had never changed at all.

“How can I, aged 34 and without any proper training and not playing in any (major) tournament at the moment, make him struggle to beat me. This sort of thing should not happen,” he said. — Bernama