KUALA LUMPUR – Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria hopes the association’s bold gamble to send back-up players and teenagers to compete in the Hanoi SEA Games in May will pay off.
He said the calculated risk of lining up players who lack experience compared with seniors was also a historic step for the parent body in the biennial games.
According to him, BAM will continue to rejuvenate the national team to ensure that Malaysia does not run out of new talent.
“We hope the players who are given the opportunity to represent the country will be able to carry the national flag at the SEA Games and try their best to achieve success.
“If you look at, say, starting from the Philippines SEA Games (2019), BAM has featured young players and it showed results when Lee Zii Jia won the gold medal along with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and S. Kisona. It was our best achievement in 40 years at the SEA Games,” he said.
He said this at the Sponsorship Agreement Signing ceremony between BAM and Petronas at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara here today.
At the Philippines SEA Games, the national badminton camp took home three gold medals.
Last Wednesday, BAM decided to send a combination of back-up players and teenagers to the Hanoi SEA Games from May 12 to 23 as the games overlapped with the prestigious Thomas Cup and Uber Cup tournaments in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 8 to 15.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Norza said he was happy with the latest developments in the local badminton scene as country now has two “engines”, through BAM and a group of independent players.
“We have two engines, one BAM engine and a professional engine which today is in a very healthy situation, with Lee Zii Jia out there and other aspirants. This is a healthy development for national badminton,” he said. – Bernama, March 4, 2022
