Girl power: Pei Tty looks to widen women’s badminton talent pool

KUALA LUMPUR – Developing a grassroots programme in sports is more than just about scouting for potential talents.

Beyond that, it is a matter of honing and grooming youngsters at an early age. 

Speaking to The Vibes, former national women’s doubles badminton coach Wong Pei Tty said a lot of work needs to be taken into consideration to get young ones involved in sports, be it at state or national level.

“Throughout my coaching experience, I noticed that some parents are most worried about sending their children to training due to distance and transportation issues.

“Sometimes it is easier to just focus on education instead of sports training. 

“It is understandable because it is not easy for parents to fully support their child to be a sportsman in Malaysia. After all, they have to spend a lot of time and money on equipment and (other things),” said the former shuttler.

Pei Tty, who is attached to the Perak Badminton Association (Perak BA), is currently running a series of badminton clinics in selected states, targeted at girls aged under 12.

The first clinic was conducted on February 18 and 19 in Ipoh under the Perak BA.

Why girls? 

The former world number one women’s doubles shuttler explained that her clinics are aimed at girls due to the large difference in the size of the talent pool between women and men players.

“We realised that this has been the situation for quite some time. Take for example last year’s Perak Closed tournament. 

“We received 120 entries for the boys and only 21 for the girls in the under-12 group. That is a big gap.

“Hence, with the clinic, we are trying to keep participation open for girls as much as possible,” she added.

Pei Tty was a household name in the Malaysian badminton scene during her playing days and created history by winning the country’s first mixed doubles medal at the World Championships, clinching bronze at the 2006 edition with then-partner Koo Kien Keat.

She was also a gold medallist in the women’s doubles at the Commonwealth Games in the same year and won golds at the SEA Games – in 2005 and 2009 – with then-partner Chin Eei Hui.

Apart from that, she and Eei Hui had won four BWF Superseries titles.

‘A small effort goes a long way’

Pei Tty admitted her badminton clinics may not be conducted on a mega scale or involve a major sponsor – but she said it only takes a small gesture to make a big impact.

Currently, she is being assisted by other former national women’s shuttlers such as Ooi Sock Ai, Julia Wong, Joanne Quay, as well as Perlis coach Lim Siew Qing.

“We have no major corporate partners. We have been doing this on our own.

“In Perak, the state badminton association has been supporting us by allowing us to utilise their facility and state players were also willing to lend a hand. The same goes for ex-national players who came all the way from Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Perlis.

“We are not trying to earn any profit out of this clinic, but we just want to encourage and influence more young girls to be part of the badminton community.”

Pei Tty said their next destination would be Johor, although they have yet to confirm the dates so as not to clash with ongoing local tournaments.

Apart from getting participation from young girls, the team also faces funding challenges.

So far, Pei Tty said badminton brands such as Gosan have been sponsoring T-shirts, while Young provided special discounts for racquets.

As such, she hoped that more corporate sponsors would be willing to jump in and help develop the programme that would benefit the national badminton community.

How the idea was birthed

The former international shuttler added that the idea for the programme was birthed during a casual hang-out among ex-national shuttlers.

They realised that something needed to be done to help expand women’s badminton in Malaysia, especially by those who have professional experience.

“The purpose of having this programme is to give a chance for girls to try out the sport, especially the underprivileged, and be interested in the sport from an early age – and if they want to continue, we will do our best to help them.

“Everybody should be given a fair chance to prove themselves and show their potential.

“If they are given the right avenue to try and work hard, I believe they could succeed,” Pei Tty added. – The Vibes, March 11, 2023