PETALING JAYA: Don’t give up on our shuttlers just yet.
This is the message sent by Badminton Association of Malaysian (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria after the team’s disappointing outing in the just concluded Malaysian Open.
None of the home representatives made it past the quarter-finals of the tournament for the second consecutive year.
Norza acknowledged that it was a poor showing from the players and the BAM needed to work harder to close the gap with the other countries ahead of the Paris Olympics in July.
“The reality is that when we organise world-class tournaments like these, it’s a disappointment not just for us (BAM) but also the fans when no Malaysian shuttler made it to the semi-finals again,” said Norza.
“For me, the disappointment is more towards our status as hosts but, in terms of achievement, don’t give up on our players yet.
“We must give them all the support necessary.”
Norza believed that world No. 4 men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who were the only national representatives to make it to the last eight, were unlucky to lose 21-16, 18-21, 13-21 to South Korea’s reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae.
“Aaron and Wooi Yik are among the top five pairs in the world,” said Norza.
“At any time, those in the top five can beat each other.
‘‘The deciding factors on match day are luck, mentality and preparations.’’
Norza also felt that women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah did not do too badly as they gave China’s eventual champions Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning a good fight especially in the first game before losing 20-22, 15-21 in the opening round.
“Pearly just recovered from an injury, but they gave a good fight to the eventual champions,” said Norza.
“Before Pearly got injured, they were capable of playing really long rallies against the top pairs.
“I think they are up there with the best but we just need to strengthen them physically to ensure they will have good stamina on the court.”
Norza also believed that mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei needed some time to become a more mature pairing after they were only combined at the end of 2022.
World No. 9 Tang Jie-Ee Wei lost out 22-24, 14-21 to Japan’s world No. 13 Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito in the second round.
