KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Ng Tze Yong has been omitted from the Malaysian squad for the Thomas Cup Finals next week.
Tze Yong has hoped to recover from his injury, but it turned out that the 23-year-old was nowhere near full recovery.
Doubles shuttler Choong Hon Jian has been called up to fill the vacant spot in the 10-man squad.
"After discussions with the coaching staff and management, we decided to drop Tze Yong. His condition doesn't allow him to compete," said national coaching director Rexy Mainaky.
"So, we chose Hon Jian to take his place because based on discussions with both the doubles and singles coaching staff, we saw the need to add a doubles player.
"We see several possibilities that the team need for the Thomas Cup this time. Currently, we have four singles players and six doubles players," said Rexy.
World No. 18 Tze Yong has been out since February due to a back injury which required him to undergo surgery.
He missed several important tournaments including the Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, resulting in him missing out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics by a whisker.