Take my advice: Soong Joo Ven reminded Chia Jeng Hon (pic, below) and other dropped shuttlers that they were still young and had plenty of opportunities to compete in tournaments.
PETALING JAYA: Independent men’s singles shuttler Soong Joo Ven has urged the players recently dropped from the national team set-up to not give up on the sport.
Chia Jeng Hon and Rex Hooi, who are both 20, were dropped from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after a performance review.
The 22-year-old Lee Shun Yang was also axed from the national set-up but has accepted an offer to become a full-time sparring partner in the BAM.
Joo Ven, who also faced the same situation in 2020, has offered some advice to the youngsters.
“The players dropped are still very young and still have plenty of opportunities to compete in tournaments,” said Joo Ven.
“My advice for them is to keep working hard and regain the hunger to succeed.
“It will be tough at first as they will be out of their comfort zone.
“They will need to manage everything from sponsorships to getting a place to train on their own.
“The most important thing is to join and train with a group of players, who have the same winning mentality.”
World No. 70 Joo Ven went on to relate his own journey as an independent player.
“It was so difficult in the beginning after I had to leave BAM and honestly, I felt lost and wanted to give up,” said the 28-year-old.
“There were many players who gave up the sport less than a year after being dropped.
“Luckily, I had my senior Liew Daren who guided me.
“He was such an experienced player and I learnt a lot from him by training alongside him every day.’’
Joo Ven welcomes any player who wanted to join him in training.
“Any player is definitely welcome to join me,” said Joo Ven.
“As long as they are motivated to compete and win, I am happy to guide them and to share my experience with them.”
Joo Ven is currently on a three-day break before he turns his attention to preparing for the new season.
His next assignment will be the Thailand Masters in Bangkok from Jan 30-Feb 4.
