KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s singles player, Leong Jun Hao and rising star, Justin Hoh are among the players the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is betting on at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from May 5 to 17.
Singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann said another male singles player is Ong Ken Yon while Tan Zhing Yi, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman and Wong Ling Ching will represent the country in the women’s singles camp.
He said the target is for the men’s players to at least reach the final.
“They (men’s singles) need to learn and take advantage of this because we believe the national players are capable of taking on the challenge to win medals,” he told reporters after today’s training session.
Commenting on the challenges of the women’s singles camp, Choong Hann said the coaching staff did not set high targets for them and hoped that they would be able to demonstrate a high-quality level of play at the biennial sports games.
In the meantime, doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky made a bold move by listing less experienced doubles to take on the country’s challenges at the SEA Games this time.
He said that among the pairs that are entrusted to perform in Cambodia are the men’s pair Goh Boon Sze-Rayner Beh and the women’s twin pair, Cheng Su Hui-Cheng Su Yin.
“Fans may question why not risk the pairing of Muhammad Haikal Nazri and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani or Goh Sze Fei-Choong Hon Jian, but for me the time has come for us to be bolder by giving them a chance.
“Of course, the Indonesian and Thai players are quite good, but we have to avoid not giving confidence to the young teams because if not, when will they get a chance to play,” he said.
Rexy said that all the doubles players he selected had proven their ability in addition to having high discipline during training sessions.
The doubles specialist from Indonesia is also targeting the doubles squad to bring home at least a bronze and will re-evaluate the colours of the medals that can be achieved after the two closest challengers, Indonesia and Thailand announced their line-up for Cambodia. – Bernama, March 3, 2023
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