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PETALING JAYA – The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is committed to ensuring that the Malaysian Open Badminton Championship 2022 scheduled to be held from June 28 to July 3 will be a grand tournament, said its president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
He said BAM was in talks with the main sponsor, Petronas, to hold the Super 750 World Tour tournament in a great way.
After the cancellation of the tournament for two years in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mohamad Norza said this edition would be held again at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
“As its status has increased, we hope that it is a prestigious tournament in the BWF (Badminton World Federation) calendar,” he told a press conference after chairing the BAM Council Meeting and the national badminton governing body’s annual general meeting here yesterday.
He also confirmed that the Malaysian Masters Championship from July 5 to 10 will also be held at Axiata Arena.
In a separate development, Mohamad Norza said he has handed over all matters on selecting new coaches to the technical division of BAM, while acknowledging that there were vacancies in the coaching staff.
Asked if there was an opportunity for the parent body to appoint local coaches, Mohamad Norza said BAM would only select truly qualified candidates.
Last month, men’s doubles coach Flandy Limpele from Indonesia, whose contract was due to expire on April 1, decided not to sign a contract extension with BAM.
Earlier, BAM had also lost women’s singles coach Indra Wijaya, also from Indonesia, and women’s doubles coach and former national men’s doubles player, Chan Chong Ming. They had left in February and December last year respectively.
Another Indonesian coach, Paulus Firman, who coaches the mixed doubles team, is also expected to leave BAM when his contract expires at the end of this month. – Bernama, April 24, 2022