The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are set to introduce a two division internal tournament beginning this week as they look to give the national singles shuttlers a much needed competitive edge following a long  layoff.

National coaching director Wong Choong Hann confirmed the tournament will be split into Division 1 & 2 for the singles affair.

“It will be a round-robin format which every player needs to participate in. We will begin with Division 2 first, and the best two players in that division will join the first division.

“So Division 1 will be made up of eight shuttlers, comprising of six top national shuttlers in addition to these two players. But the second division will not comprise of junior players alone. The likes of Leong Jun Hao will also feature there,” said Wong.

The men’s singles affair is set to be an interesting affair, especially in the top division.

While world number 10 Lee Zii Jia is favourite to win the top category, he will have players like Cheam June Wei, Liew Daren and Soong Joo Ven looking to give him a run for his money.

Wong also confirmed the performance in this internal affairs will be one of the criterias when the selection is made for the Thomas Cup in October.

The Division 2 tournament is set to begin on August 5, while the Division 1 kicks off on August 12.