KUALA LUMPUR – Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria has called on all parties not to doubt the capabilities of the national shuttlers despite their dismal performance in the 2024 Malaysia Open that ended yesterday.
He said the disappointing results on home ground have made BAM realise the need to be better prepared, with the main mission being to help the national shuttlers reach peak form at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Road to Gold (RTG) programme joint chairman said this included holding discussions with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and Akademi Badminton Malaysia coaching director Rexy Mainaky regarding steps to narrow the gap with other world champions, especially before the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
“The reality is that when we organise world-class tournaments like this, it is a disappointment not just for us (BAM) but also the fans when not a single representative managed to make the semi-finals or finals for the second year running.
“However, to me, the disappointment is more towards our status as hosts, but, in terms of achievement, do not write them off yet. We must give them all the support necessary,” he said.
Commenting on the individual performances of shuttlers under BAM, he said top men’s doubles players Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik performed satisfactorily, but lady luck was not with them in the quarter-finals, where they lost 21-16, 18-21, 13-21 to South Korean world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae.
“For Aaron and Wooi Yik, they are among the top five pairs in the world. At any time, those who are in the top five can beat each other, the deciding factors on match day are luck, mentality, and preparations,” he said.
He also felt that the results produced by the national number one women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were not too bad considering they gave a good fight to China’s Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning before going down 20-22, 15-21 in the first round.
“Pearly just recovered from an injury, but they gave a good fight to the eventual champions. Before Pearly got injured, they were capable of playing long rallies. I think they (Pearly-Thinaah) are up there (with the best), just that we need to strengthen them physically to ensure they will have strong fitness and durability on the court,” he said.
The eighth-seeded Sheng Shu-Tan Ning stunned their fifth-seeded compatriots Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu 21-18, 21-18 for their maiden Super 1000 title.
On the performance of top mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, Norza said that although they are on par with the world’s top 10 in terms of quality, the Malaysian duo still lacks maturity and is held back by nerves.
Tan Jie-Ee Wei went down 22-24, 14-21 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito in the second round.
Norza also noted that men’s singles ace Ng Tze Yong still needs time to regain his physical strength after the shuttler was forced to concede a walkover when trailing 8-12 against Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round due to a back injury.
Norza, who is also Olympic Council of Malaysia president, said national badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei had the right to hit out at some of the national players who chose to vacation abroad ahead of the Malaysia Open, which began on January 9.
He said he respected Chong Wei’s views since he (Chong Wei) had experienced the highs and lows an athlete has to go through to achieve success at the highest level.
The media recently reported that the former world number one had concluded that Malaysia’s dismal performance at the Malaysian Open was due to their poor preparation ahead of the curtain-raiser for 2024.
The three-time Olympic silver medallist also questioned the conduct of several shuttlers who chose to vacation abroad during the Christmas period despite knowing that the Malaysia Open would begin on January 9. – January 15, 2024