NO HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR ISKANDAR

KUALA LUMPUR: What a miserable way to usher in the New Year for Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin.

The national singles shuttler will not get to play at his home tournament – the Malaysian Masters – at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil from Jan 16-21 because of the new Badminton World Federation (BWF) ruling.

Under the ruling, the qualifying tournament for all Level Four events (like the Malaysian Masters – formerly known as Grand Prix Gold events) have been reduced from a draw of 32 to 16.

And the qualifying tournaments for all Level Two and Level Three events (formerly known as the Superseries) have been scrapped under BWF’s revised World Tour.

Iskandar failed to qualify for the Malaysian Masters as he is ranked 102 in the world. He is in fifth position in the reserve list.

Those who made the cut for the main draw are Lee Chong Wei and Lee Zii Jia. Zulfadli Zulkiffli, Chong Wei Feng, Soong Joo Ven, Lim Chi Wing and Liew Daren will have to come through the qualifiers.

And to make matters worse, Iskandar is not listed for the season-opening Thailand Masters in Bangkok from Jan 9-14.

“This is disappointing. I’m one of the first victims of the BWF’s new law. I can’t even play in my own home tournament,” lamented Iskandar. “If not for the new rule, I could’ve made it to the qualifying round at least.”

“I’ve no tournaments in January. My world ranking will continue to slide. It’s not a good start to the new year indeed,” added Iskandar.

The 2015 Malaysian Masters runner-up was once ranked 23rd in the world before a back injury hampered his progress early this year.

In the women’s singles, only Soniia Cheah made it to the main draw of the Masters. Kuala Lumpur SEA Games champion Goh Jin Wei and Lee Ying Ying will be playing in the qualifying tournament.