KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), under fire after the national teams’ poor performance in the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals recently, aim to get to the basics – by focusing on the grassroots level.
And their chance to identify, and develop, future stars will begin with the 100Plus National Circuit Grand Finals, which will be held in Kuantan from May 26-30.
The battle among the juniors, aged between 12 years old and 18 years old, will see 340 aspiring stars in action.
And this time, the BAM should not just stop at identifying and acknowledging those with potential.
They must take it a step further – get the national junior coaches to monitor, groom and expose these shuttlers to competitive badminton from a young age.
It will also be ideal to send the national elite coaches to have a glimpse of what the future has to offer so that they can give their inputs in identifying and selecting talents – especially those not from the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) fraternity.
Yesterday, BAM vice-president Datuk Al-Amin Majid agreed that there was a serious and urgent need to uncover singles talent.
“I agree that our junior stars have failed to make the grade when they join the senior ranks – especially the singles players,” said Al-Amin.
“This is not so much a problem with the doubles. Chan Chong Ming, Jeremy Gan, Tan Boon Heong and Hoon Thien How have all done reasonably well in the senior ranks after winning world junior titles.
“But we have not been that successful in the singles department. This is something we have to look into.”
Al-Amin said that coaches had an important role to play in turning juniors into established world class players.
“The BAM should review the roles of the coaches. We are in the midst of getting feedback after the teams’ outing at the Uber-Thomas Cup Finals. I agree that there should be discussions with coaches on how best to expose these juniors,” he said.
Yesterday, Al-Amin, who is also the chairman of the tournament committee, thanked 100Plus for helping BAM to promote development programmes.
“The emphasis has to be on developing younger players and we hope these junior tournaments will continue to be the stepping stones for such aspiring players,” he said
And their chance to identify, and develop, future stars will begin with the 100Plus National Circuit Grand Finals, which will be held in Kuantan from May 26-30.
The battle among the juniors, aged between 12 years old and 18 years old, will see 340 aspiring stars in action.
And this time, the BAM should not just stop at identifying and acknowledging those with potential.
They must take it a step further – get the national junior coaches to monitor, groom and expose these shuttlers to competitive badminton from a young age.
It will also be ideal to send the national elite coaches to have a glimpse of what the future has to offer so that they can give their inputs in identifying and selecting talents – especially those not from the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) fraternity.
Yesterday, BAM vice-president Datuk Al-Amin Majid agreed that there was a serious and urgent need to uncover singles talent.
“I agree that our junior stars have failed to make the grade when they join the senior ranks – especially the singles players,” said Al-Amin.
“This is not so much a problem with the doubles. Chan Chong Ming, Jeremy Gan, Tan Boon Heong and Hoon Thien How have all done reasonably well in the senior ranks after winning world junior titles.
“But we have not been that successful in the singles department. This is something we have to look into.”
Al-Amin said that coaches had an important role to play in turning juniors into established world class players.
“The BAM should review the roles of the coaches. We are in the midst of getting feedback after the teams’ outing at the Uber-Thomas Cup Finals. I agree that there should be discussions with coaches on how best to expose these juniors,” he said.
Yesterday, Al-Amin, who is also the chairman of the tournament committee, thanked 100Plus for helping BAM to promote development programmes.
“The emphasis has to be on developing younger players and we hope these junior tournaments will continue to be the stepping stones for such aspiring players,” he said
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