They say there is a dire need to have more capable juniors in the national team so that the transition is smooth when the older ones retire.

Former national champion James Selvaraj said the singles players were weak and not good enough to beat their India challengers, who were balanced in strength and appeared to be in top form.

He said the decision by the managers to break up the doubles team was also a wrong move as they should have selected players according to their rankings in the world.

“For us to beat Japan and lose to India is very odd. The team went there thinking they could go to the finals, but for some reason everything got out of control and they fumbled,” he told FMT.

Selvaraj, a former three-time national singles champion, said BAM should put in serious attempts to review the junior development programme to scout for young players with potential and groom them.

“Looking at the team, all I can say is that we should start from scratch again. Right now, more juniors are being moved to the senior level and the nation is left with little or almost no juniors.

“What has happened to our ambitious junior development programme? It is time to take another look at it. We need more juniors to feed the senior squad constantly,” he said.

Selvaraj said Malaysia should start preparing to redeem itself at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in July to offset its embarrassing loss to India.

Former national shuttler Yew Cheng Hoe, who was in the 1966 Thomas Cup-winning team, said while the national team has a lot of room for improvement, there is an urgent need to get more youths into the team.

“The existing team is old. We are always relying on the old. BAM should look into this,” he said.

Badminton great Lee Chong Wei said singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann has to be held accountable and should explain what went wrong with the team.

“To win the Thomas Cup, it takes a collective effort from everyone in the team. We certainly need to improve our singles depth if we want to win,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.