KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s current line-up of young national players need to prove their worth and polish up their skills in low-to-mid tier competitions before they can succeed at high-level sporting events, such as the prestigious All England Open Championships, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann said today to the Vibes.
He added that although having players participate in the championships is a good way to earn points and improve their overall ranking, that is not the ultimate goal.
“We wish to have the players compete on a platform where they have fair opportunities based on their respective individual abilities.
“We want to make sure our players improve by their own standards,” he said after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara.
The former world number one men’s singles player said that it would be far more conducive for singles shuttlers to play in tournaments that can help them to steadily improve their performance.
As such, placing them in low-to-mid tier tournaments would be the best way to help them boost their confidence before they can start to compete at a much higher level.
“Currently, they are not in the position where they are amongst the top tier (of players) to defend their title (in All England) or in similar high-level competitions,” he added.
“So, it won’t be fair to have them compete with top world-ranked players.”
The annual All England Open, which is the oldest and most prestigious of the world’s badminton tournaments, is scheduled to be held in Birmingham on March 16-20.
On February 22, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) drew independent shuttlers Daren Liew and Lee Zii Jia – world number 36 and 7 respectively – as Malaysia’s representatives at the All England Open − with no participation from BAM.
Choong Hann said that the time will come when the men’s singles representation will be from BAM − citing Ng Tze Yong as a good example of a national player whose consistency has helped him climb steadily up the ranks this past year.
“Look at Tze Yong, he used to be ranked in the hundreds but now he is world number 46.
“When the time comes, he will also get to play his first All England.
“I think All England is a good yardstick of where you are but it’s not the ultimate yardstick,” he added.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will have no representation for the women’s singles.
“For women’s singles, we are not at the top (ranking) yet. The focus now is to get them playing in the lower-to-middle tier tournaments first and then the All England will come along,” said Choong Hann.
“It is also a reflection of what these players are capable of. For example, S. Kisona competed at the All England last year but she didn’t play well. She got a taste of how competitive it was and now she’s working to improve her form.” – The Vibes, March 1, 2022
