KUALA LUMPUR: Despite missing out on the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) semi-finals last week, the Malaysian women's team managed to sneak in through the back door to qualify for the Uber Cup Finals in April.
Malaysia, along with Taiwan and the United States, qualified for the world team championships based on their overall team ranking points.
BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky agreed that the players must double their efforts to avoid and embarrassment in Chengdu, China on April 27-May 5.
Rexy also noted that top women's doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah have got plenty to prove in the coming months.
"Pearly-Thinaah need to build on their mental and physical strength.
"The next few months are crucial, and they will need to make sacrifices to become contenders at the Paris Olympics in July.
"As for our singles players like K. Letshanaa, Wong Ling Ching, and Siti Nurshuhaini Azman, we might send them abroad for short training stints," said Rexy today.
At the BATC, Malaysia defeated minnows United Arab Emirates 5-0 and lost 4-1 to Thailand, finishing second in their group.
In the quarter-finals, Malaysia crashed out of the competition after losing 3-0 to Indonesia.
At the previous Uber Cup in Bangkok two years ago, Malaysia failed to clear the group stage after losing to Thailand (4-1) and Denmark (3-2).
The team's only win came against Egypt (5-0).