KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo has been left out of the squad for next month’s All-England and Swiss Open tournaments.

And this is bound to jeopardise her participation in the World Championships in India in August.

Yesterday, the BAM dropped Mew Choo from the squad for the All-England (March 3-8) and Swiss Open (March 10-15) following the National Sports Institute’s (NSI) report that the top women’s singles shuttler had yet to recover from her knee and elbow injuries.

Her absence from the two tournaments could see her drop from her 12th spot in the world rankings. She must be in the world’s top 16 by May 1 to be guaranteed a place in the world meet.

There was, however, good news for back-up men’s singles shuttlers Liew Daren and Chong Wei Feng, whose names were listed in the squad for the All-England. The duo will join world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei in the prestigious All-England.

The mixed doubles event will also see the participation of two back-up pairs — Mohd Razif Abdul Latif-Woon Khe Wei and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying. They will be joined by Koo Kien Keat-Ng Hui Lin.

INJURY-PRONE Wong Mew Choo is the latest to be included in the 2012 London Olympics programme as questions are raised about keeping faith with a bunch of shuttlers who will be in their late 20s or may have even hung up their racquets by then.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Youth and Sports Minister has admitted to blundering when naming the squads for the 2012 London Olympic Games — especially for the badminton team — on Thursday.

Just 24 hours after leaving out top women’s singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo from the cast for the Road to London programme, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday that the 26-year-old injury-prone player was back on the list.

“It was a mistake. She may be injured now. But we hope she will get back on her feet. Her world ranking is still high and she is still considered one of the potentials for the London Games,” said Ismail.

Holding court: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob (left) visiting the badminton hall at Stadium Juara at Bukit Kiara Friday. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN / The Star

He made the U-turn during a press conference after inspecting a new hostel for the shuttlers at the Rakan Muda Complex, which is adjacent to the national training centre in Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

Mew Choo is ranked 12th in the world, just four rungs ahead of rising star Julia Wong.

If Mew Choo, who is down with knee and elbow injuries, does not get back to action soon, Julia, who is breathing down her neck, is expected to overtake the Malaysian Open runner-up this year.

National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong, who also confirmed that Mew Choo’s name was not in the initial list, said they did not want to put undue pressure on the shuttler by adding her name in the first place.

Besides Mew Choo, the others in the badminton squad are Lee Chong Wei (world No. 1), Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (No. 4), Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (No. 5) and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty (who dropped from the top to No. 2 in the latest rankings list on Thursday).

Except for Kien Keat-Boon Heong, the others will be about 30 when the Olympics are held.

To complicate matters, the BAM’s coaching and training committee have yet to meet to finalise their squad although BAM president Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, who was at yesterday’s press conference, said that a decision had been made.

Questions were also raised on the early announcement of the badminton squad for the London Games.

Ismail defended the move, saying it was not an oversight although most of the shuttlers would have reached their prime by then.

“We are led to believe that these players will be in good condition until the next Games . We did not name any future potential players because there is a big gap in standard between these youngsters and the current top players,” said Ismail.

“But we are not closing the door on them. The government’s focus will also be on the back-up players. And, if at any time, these players show promise, we will include them in the Olympic programme. For now, their inclusion cannot be justified.”

Meanwhile, the badminton players will have to wait for at least two more years for a new centre of excellence in Taman Maluri to be ready.

The centre was given as a reward by the government following badminton’s feat in winning a silver medal through Chong Wei at the Beijing Olympics last August.

“It will take at least two more years for this new excellence centre to be ready,” said Ismail.

“We have decided to house the players at the Rakan Muda Complex near Stadium Juara so that they will be no delay in the preparation of the squad towards the London Games.”

The shuttlers from Bukit Jalil are expected to move to the Rakan Muda Complex when upgrading work is completed in March.

PUTRAJAYA: Badminton suffered a blow but archery is expected to enjoy a major facelift this year with the government’s decision to officially name three sports under their — Road to London — Olympic Games programme yesterday.

As expected, cycling was also named as the sport with the potential to win medals at the London Games in 2012.

Yesterday, in a bid to get a head start, the names of athletes earmarked for the programme were also revealed. The only notable name missing from the cast was top women’s singles shuttler Wong Mew Choo.

Hard decision: BAM have to decide whether to give Mew Choo more time to come back from her injuries or find a replacement.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are now left with two options — find a replacement for the injury-prone Mew Choo or give the national No. 1 more time to come back and stake her claim for a place in the Olympic squad.

Yesterday, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the three sports would enjoy greater attention from the government in the next three years leading to the Games.

“We have formed three sub-committees — finance, planning and preparation and sports science to look into the interests of these three sports,” said Sabri.

“There will be more competitions and attachment programmes to improve their standard.

“For badminton, the focus will also be in the mixed doubles. The names of the potential mixed doubles players will be named later.”

Among the three sports, archery has not enjoyed much foreign outings and Sabri said the government had given the green light for archery to enjoy more exposure.

“Archery has shown that it have the potential. But the archers have only enjoyed five to six international competitions in the past. Like the Europeans, we want them to go for at least 10 international tournaments a year,” said Sabri.

“They will also have attachment programmes in Europe to get acclimatised to the conditions that they can expect in London.”

Sabri said that a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bath and Marlborough Universities would be signed soon to provide an alternative training ground for the Malaysian Olympians in Europe.

With the bigger budget and more emphasis, Sabri said that it was only natural to expect better results from these sports at the next Games in London.

“All we want is for the squads to do better than at the Beijing Games. Anything more than one silver medal will be an achievement,” said Sabri.

In Beijing, Lee Chong Wei was the sole medal winner when he won the silver after losing to China’s Lin Dan in the men’s singles final last August.

Sabri urged the other sports not to lose heart although they were not under the Road to London programme, which would be officially launched on Feb 2.

He said that sports like hockey might be included if they showed promise before firing a parting shot at those already in the programme: “Do not take your places for granted."

My Opinion , BAM should give Mew Choo some time , I believe she'll be like Zhou Mi , late to shine ( as in late to show their talents ) , ok fine , dun compare with other countries . Let's compare with Malaysian's shuttlers then , CHIN EI HUI - WONG PEI TTY , They've been joining the Olympics since 2000 and they were playing since 1997 I think and NOW oni , they shine their talents , so I believe Mew Choo STILL has her chance .