KUALA LUMPUR: The heat is on the country’s top pair of Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah to earn their ticket to represent the country at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

The shoulder injury suffered by Wan Wah during the Thomas Cup Finals in Jakarta last week, might see the veteran pair out of the running for the top two men’s doubles pair heading to Beijing.

A country can send only a maximum of two pairs if all of them are ranked inside the top-16.

At the end of the qualification date on May 1, Malaysia has three pairs ranked in the top-16. They are Tan Fook/Wan Wah (4th), Kien Keat/Boon Heong (5th) and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif/Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (11th).

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said all three would be put through a medical to test their fitness before deciding on which two pairs would represent the country.

“We have three strong men’s doubles pairs which have qualified but only two pairs are allowed to go for the Games. So, I will not decide on which two pairs would represent the country until the deadline at the end of this month,” he told reporters after the end of BAM’s annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday.

BAM have the prerogative to name their best two pairs - regardless of the world ranking order.

Despite their inconsistent performance, the national world number five pair of Kien Keat/Boon Heong still stand as the best bet for selection to the Olympics.

After a tremendous performance in the Thomas Cup semi-finals match against China, the world No. 11 pair of Zakry/Fairuz will be waiting in the sidelines to occupy the slot if the veteran pair fail to make it due to fitness problems.

Zakry/Fairuz defeated the Chinese pair of Xie Zhongbo/Guo Zhengdong 21-17, 21-15 in a thrilling fourth match of the semi-final tie.

Nadzmi said BAM would look into every angle in their selection of players and still believed that badminton could deliver the medals in the Olympics.

“If the top national singles Lee Chong Wei can continue to improve in his game and maintain his form, he could be the first Malaysian to win the gold medal in the Games,” he said.

He said some of the players would be rested from some tournaments before the games to ensure they prepared well and focused on their game.

Chong Wei, the world No. 2, defeated his nemesis, world No. 1 Lin Dan of China 21-12, 21-14 during the Thomas Cup semi-final tie.

After that remarkable win, he has certainly slashed the odds to be among the medal contenders in the Games.