KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 12 badminton players were axed from the national badminton setup, announced Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today.
Speaking at a press conference, ABM chief executive officer Michelle Chai said the move was part of a restructuring measure in a bid to prepare for the Paris Olympic Games qualifiers in May next year.
“The reason why we decided to trim down the squad is to improve the quality of the existing players rather than the quantity.
“We are also trying to avoid keeping players because we do not wish to train players and not send them for tournaments,” said Michelle when met at the academy in Bukit Kiara today.
She explained the decision was made after taking into consideration evaluations by the respective coaches and sports science and medical science teams.
“Qualifying for the Olympics (Paris in 2024) alone is not enough. We need competitive players qualified to win gold medals.
“We also want to focus on players we can depend on to perform at the Olympics in Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032).”
Michelle also noted that the release of the players does not mean that their careers will end here, as they can still become independent and achieve their ambitions on their own.
The men’s singles shuttlers who were dropped were Lim Chong King and Ting Wen Xuan, while the women’s singles shuttlers comprise Myisha Mohd Khairul, Eoon Qi Xuan, Joanne Ng May Yin, Khor Jing Wen, and Loh Zhi Wei.
Chang Yee Jun, Lwi Sheng Hao, Mohammad Faris Amrin, Fawwaz Zainuddin, and Muhammad Zulhairi Sahimi were the men’s doubles players axed from the squad. – The Vibes, December 19, 2022
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