Skip to main content

Kim Hock on the hunt for young badminton talent

Former Olympic medallist Yap Kim Hock Kim Hock launched an Under-19 state development programme under the Klang United Badminton Club (KUBC). - BRUCE LEE/The Star
Former Olympic medallist Yap Kim Hock Kim Hock launched an Under-19 state development programme under the Klang United Badminton Club (KUBC). - BRUCE LEE/The Star


KLANG: The first season of the Kopiko Purple League (KPL) is done and dusted, but former Olympic men’s doubles silver medallist Yap Kim Hock is not taking a break just yet.
Driven by a passion to find new talent for the country, Kim Hock launched an Under-19 state development programme under the Klang United Badminton Club (KUBC).

In the inaugural KPL which ended last month, KUBC, owned by Kim Hock, finished ninth out of ... teams. Unlike the other teams, KUBC were represented mostly by juniors.
Under the development programme, Kim Hock hopes to identify talent for Selangor as well as Malaysia.

Kim Hock is one of the coaches together with former men’s singles international Lim Chen Wet.
There are nine juniors – Leong Jun Hao, Ng Jin Ping, Roslyn Tan Hui Lyn, Reuben Tan Kiang Weng, Chin Wai Kin, Ooi Zi Heng, Mohd Nuraidil Adha Azman, Yap Rui Chen and Yap Yee – under the programme.

Kim Hock, a national chief coach from 2004-2008, said he was disappointed with the lack of players coming up through the ranks.
“I’m determined to get to the root of the problem. Many juniors give up badminton when they don’t get selected into the BJSS (Bukit Jalil Sports School). BJSS can accommodate only 10 players at every intake. What happens to the other budding players?

“It does not mean that they are not good enough if they don’t make it to the BJSS.
“With the Under-19 programme in place, we hope to give these young talented juniors the opportunity to excel as well as to provide a bigger talent pool for the country.

“The goal is to develop them from district to the state level. And hopefully they graduate to the national level. All these players will be fully funded by our club,” said Kim Hock, who received a RM30,000 sponsorship for the programme from businessman Datuk Seri Lee Kuan Yew.

Kim Hock added that the formation of the programme was also in line with the KPL’s future plan of having a second-tier professional league for Under-19 players.


 by Rajes Paul - The Star

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more