Away from the city: Chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin (standing behind Pearly Tan, next to psychologist Fred Tan - middle row, sixth from right) with the Malaysian players, coaches and officials at the Aire sur la Lys camp in France. — BAM
PETALING JAYA: Doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik saved the blushes by winning a solitary medal for badminton when they finished third in Tokyo in 2021.
All eyes will be on the squad again to deliver a gold but chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin is careful not to overly burden the squad with the nation’s hopes in Paris.
Hamidin showed up at the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) training camp in Aire sur la Lys in Northern France and decided to deflect the pressure on the team.
He has urged the players to clear the quarter-finals hurdles first before thinking about the gold. “Yes, gold is our target but for badminton, let the players get past the quarter-final stage first. If they start thinking too much about becoming champions, it will give them a huge burden,” said Hamidin, who was with them for three days.
“So stay focused to clear the early hurdles before the semi-finals and finals stages. Looking at the preparation of the team in Aire sur la Lys over the last three days, the players are well prepared, injury-free and are ready to compete at the Paris Olympics.
“I’m saying this after witnessing several training sessions, having discussions with Rexy (Mainaky), other coaches and also all the players.
“I am optimistic they will give their maximum when the badminton competition begins on Saturday (July 27).”
World No. 5 Aaron-Wooi Yik, world No. 13 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles) – have been stationed in small town in France to undergo training since July 24.
The singles players will move into the last 16 stage after the group fixtures while the doubles pairs will advance straight to the quarter-finals by finishing in the top two in their respective groups.
Besides the doubles, Malaysia will also have Lee Zii Jia and Goh Jin Wei in the men and women’s singles but the professionals are not part of the camp in France.
Meanwhile, Hamidin also gave thumbs up for BAM efforts in keeping their players isolated for the final phase.
“This is a well planned camp as BAM have made early arrangements for the players to train in isolation in Aire sur la Lys before they enter the Games Village,” added Hamidin.
“It’s good idea to keep the players and coaches away in a remote town which not only helps them focus in training but also creates close bonding among them before they begin their mission.”
Besides training, psychology and physical training sessions, the Malaysian team also opened their training session to the public by having some friendly matches and meet-and-greet session.
Top French mixed doubles pair and world No. 14 Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue also joined the session and had a simulation match against Tang Jie-Ee Wei.
