Firstly the decision not to subject Mas and Mok to qualifications is a no-brainer. These two are the highest rated players and shown good consistency in team events. They are amongst the four Malaysians who have breached the 2400 ELO barrier - the others being Nicholas Chan and myself. This is not easy to achieve. So no question about this decision.
Personally I think it is a good move by the MCF to select players from the nationals. This might draw in other top players who might harbour ambitions to represent the country and thereby give the event some prestige. Unfortunately this did not happen.
Now, a Swiss tournament to select eight players is not ideal. The Swiss is only accurate to determine first place and perhaps second to fourth. After that it is a bit of a lottery. The top eight are:
| No. | Name | Elo | Points | TB |
| 1 | Lim Zhuo Ren | 2080 | 8 | 52.5 |
| 2 | Subramaniam Sumant | 2065 | 7.5 | 46.5 |
| 3 | Liew Chee-Meng-Jimmy | 2302 | 7 | 51.5 |
| 4 | Fong Yit Ho | 1995 | 7 | 38 |
| 5 | Yeap Eng Chiam | 2140 | 6.5 | 56.5 |
| 6 | Loo Swee Leong | 2141 | 6.5 | 53.5 |
| 7 | Fong Yit San | 1945 | 6.5 | 47 |
| 8 | Lee Kah Meng Elgin | 1904 | 6.5 | 43.5 |
Let's look at the tie-break (TB) column. This tie-break score indicates the level of opposition that the player faced. Four players have TB over 50. Sumant and Yit Ho has the lowest tie-breaks. They even lose out to those players who have half a point less than them! If both had not won their last game, they would be out of the top eight on tie-breaks. The unfortunate victims were Edward Lee and Yeoh Li Tian. Both needed only a draw to qualify. Both also had tie-breaks over fifty and were always amongst the top boards which means they had to play the strongest players. Unfortunately they lost the last round against determined opponents. It is a pity that these two will not have a chance to make it into the national team this year. However we cannot fault the others for the imperfections of the Swiss.
Still there is only five places on the team. In my opinion the current national champion should always have an automatic spot. Therefore, Zhou Ren should join Mas and Mok in the final team and eventually five of the remaining seven will be disappointed to be left out.
At least there is a chance for those with potential to show what they are capable of.
I have to agree with MCF on this one. Having said that, I have to say that some of these players are not yet ready to take on the other Asian opponents in a major tournament at this point in time. But we all have to start somewhere, who is to say that they will not be our future IMs or GMs?. MCF has mentioned training camps and hopefully these players will use that opportunity to improve their readiness.
