JOHOR BAHRU – The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) should not send players to too many back-to-back tournaments as this can affect their performance, said former national player Roslin Hashim.
He said recent tournaments showed that national players could not give their best when playing in several tournaments at a stretch.
He suggested that BAM conduct a post-mortem to come up with a new strategy to ensure that the national team, including top singles player Lee Zii Jia, could be more consistent in their performance.
Roslin said the national players had been inconsistent in their last nine tournaments, which started with the Sudirman Cup and ended with last week’s World Championships.
“There are players who performed below par and those who were just okay. Even though we did not win any titles, we won a bronze at the world meet. The third placing is commendable but overall, their performance was not so good.
“In my opinion, sending players to back-to-back tournaments definitely affects their performance,” he said.
He added Zii Jia was on the right track as he was already among the world’s top 10, but he should not be distracted by his chase to move up the rankings.
“It is okay to be selective in the tournaments you play. But Zii Jia plays in all tournaments.
“What is BAM’s motive? This should be looked into,” said the 2001 SEA Games champion.
For comparison, he said former great Datuk Lee Chong Wei avoided playing in three consecutive tournaments to give himself enough rest to regain his energy and stamina.
A right foot injury forced Zii Jia, the All England 2021 champion, to retire in his quarter-final match against Anders Antonsen of Denmark at the recent world championships.
Roslin said BAM should not be too dependent on Zii Jia and should give more exposure to young talents in the national team.“Ng Tze Yong and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin are among those who can be developed to rise together with Zii Jia,” he added. – Bernama, December 28, 2021
