KUALA LUMPUR: Hosts Malaysia are drawn in Group B with Japan, Singapore and Kazakhstan in the men's category in the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC).
The draw was made today for the Asian event at the Setia City Convention Centre on Feb 15-20 in Shah Alam.
Thomas Cup winners Indonesia are in Group A with India, South Korea and Hong Kong.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals and also earn automatic qualification to the Thomas Cup finals in Bangkok on May 17-22.
However, the Malaysian women's team are in for a stiffer challenge after being drawn in Group Y together with defending champions Japan and India.
At the BATC in Manila two years ago, the Malaysian men's team lost 3-1 to Indonesia in the final, while the women's team went down 3-0 to Japan in the last four.
The groupings:
Men's Group A - Indonesia, India, South Korea, Hong Kong
Group B - Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Kazakhstan
Women's Group Y - Japan, India, Malaysia
Group Z - South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan