KUALA LUMPUR: There is a possibility that seven former badminton greats could join the national team whenever they go for any tournaments in the near future.
However, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) President Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria (pix) said these seven former badminton greats who are part of a technical advisory panel set up early this month to improve the performance of the national squad, cannot intervene in the selection process as of now.
“The word that we use is advisory, so it remains as advisory at the moment because the coaching team will have their own plan but along the way they will have advice and input from panel members.
“Let’s say (if) we bring one or two from them (the panel) to Sudirman Cup, for instance, to give extra input to the team and coaches, then we will do that but in terms of selecting players, not yet,” he told a press conference after the first meeting with the technical advisory panel here, today.
Apart from giving advice to the national team, Mohamad Norza, who is also the technical advisory panel chairman, said he might consider to appoint the legends as the team manager in any tournaments, should they are available to do so.
“Yes (being team manager) they can but they have their own life...we really appreciate the fact they are willing to spend time here but whenever they are free in their schedule and if they can join the team we will put that into consideration,” he said.
The former badminton greats who are part of the BAM’s technical advisory panel comprise Olympian Datuk Lee Chong Wei, former men’s singles players Roslin Hashim and Ong Ewe Hock, former men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Datuk Seri Jalani Sidek and Datuk Cheah Soon Kit.
The panel members also include BAM Vice Presidents Datuk Teoh Teng Chor and Datuk Ng Chin Chai, BAM Secretary General Datuk Kenny Goh, as well as former National Sports Council (NSC) Director General Datuk Dr Ramlan Abd Aziz.
Chong Wei and Jalani were not present in today’s meeting as they have personal matters to attend abroad.
He also opined that the presence of legends as the shuttlers’ mentor could make the players feel more confident to share any issues that they are facing with.
This, he said, was due to the fact that some players might be afraid to raise any problems to their own coach and instead be more comfortable to share with these legends.
In the meantime, Mohamad Norza said among the topics discussed today was to find ways on getting two representatives in each categories for the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, produce more back up players and identify talent nationwide to strengthen the pool of players in the country.
“There is also recommendation to basically look at the (players) lifestyle because some are talented but they don’t seem hungry enough to actually fight for glory,” he said.
He said the establishment of this panel was to ensure transparency on how BAM and Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) operate and ultimately get them the right avenue to air their thoughts in a bid to improve players’ performance.
“Though the meeting will be done every three months but the panel members can just give their input anytime,” he said.
Mohamad Norza also did not discount the possibility that they could ‘rope in’ more former badminton greats to join the panel in the future, if necessary.
Meanwhile, Ewe Hock described the outcome of the first meeting as positive while Soon Kit said the meeting was a very good platform to share their views, critics or praises towards the players for the betterment of Malaysia’s badminton. -Bernama