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Trouble looms for Malaysia

CHINA have left out Lin Dan and men's doubles World No 1 Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng but are still strong enough to win the Thomas Cup qualifying rounds in Macau on Feb 13-19.

Yang Li Lian replaces the injured Sonia Cheah.
Yang Li Lian replaces the injured Sonia Cheah.

The team will be led by Chen Long while Chen Jin, Du Pengyu and Wang Zhengming are the other singles players while Chai Biao-Guo Zhendong and Liu Ziaolong-Qiu Zihan and Zhang Nan-Li Gen complete China's line-up.

China, who have already qualified for the Thomas Cup, are playing in the qualifying rounds for the first time since 2004 to allow their players to grab valuable Olympic qualifying points.

   Japan look to be the only team capable of upsetting the formbook due to their strength in the doubles with Noriyasu Hirata-Hirokatsu Hashimoto, Naoki Kawamae-Shoji Sato and Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa  capable of beating China's back-up pairs while Sho Sasaki and Kenichi Tago have also toppled Chen Long and Chen Jin.

China's presence has also made matters worse for Malaysia who will not be seeded in the top four and this will make it difficult for them to qualify for the final round in Wuhan, China on May 20-27.

Indonesia and South Korea look good to join Japan in the final round and the fourth qualifying spot is expected to be a battle between Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.

Malaysia should overcome Thailand but Taiwan will pose a bigger threat due to their doubles strength and the ranking order of their singles players.

Malaysia Open champions Fang Chieh Min-Lee Sheng Mu had beaten Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in the Korea Open while Chen Hung Ling-Lin Yu Lang are a strong second pair.

Bigger trouble lies in the singles where their best player Hsueh Hsuan Yi will be their No 2 based on yesterday's world rankings, which will be used for seeding purposes, and Malaysia could be in trouble if Hafiz Hashim fails to stop him.

Malaysia have made a change to their Uber Cup squad where the injured Sonia Cheah has been replaced by Yang Li Lian.

Read more: NST

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