KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Chong Wei Feng was left disconsolate after learning yesterday he will not travel with the national squad to the World Championships.

BA of Malaysia (BAM) opted for independent shuttler Zulfadli Zulkifli instead, in line with its vision of giving opportunities to young shuttlers.

The former world junior champion will accompany Lee Chong Wei to the meet in Jakarta, Indonesia from Aug 10-16. The 21-year-old is ranked 32nd in the world, nine places below Chong.

“I’m disappointed with the decision but life goes on,” said a downcast Chong.

“My focus now is to qualify for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I’ll give it everything but if things don’t improve, I may consider retiring next year.

“I wish Lee and Zulfadli all the best. I hope Lee can be our first world champion.”

BAM president Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff said the national body wants to give prominence to up and coming shuttlers so they can take over when Lee hangs up his racquet.

“We’re on the lookout for young talents good enough to represent the country within and outside BAM. On this basis, we’ve selected Zulfadli for the World Championships,” said Tengku Mahaleel after chairing an exco meeting yesterday.

“We decided not sending Chong Wei would deprive the nation of a potential medal. So it was between the two, and seeing Chong is older and has qualified before, we went with Zulfadli,” added Mahaleel, who also lauded the inclusion of youngsters Goh Jin Wei and Cheam June Wei into the senior team.

The decision to exclude Chong from the World Championships came after the Badminton World Federation rejected BAM’s request for world No 45 Lee to be given a wildcard for the championships.

Each country can send two shuttlers if they are ranked among the world’s top 150, which would have qualified Chong and Zulfadli on merit.

Chong has made the World Championships twice, losing in the third round to eventual champion Lin Dan in 2013 before suffering a first round defeat to England’s Rajiv Ouseph last year.

Despite overlooking the 27-year-old, Mahaleel stressed Chong is still vital to BAM’s plans.

“We’ll continue supporting him and do everything we can to get him to Rio,” said Mahaleel.