Badminton: Only Selected Tournaments For Shuttlers Starting Next Year
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Starting next year shuttlers will only be send for selected tournaments and must come back with results said Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) High Performance director Datuk James Selvaraj.
The coaches as well as the Coaches and Training committee (C&T) would identify the tournaments.
"The coaches and C&T will make recommendations and suggestions to me next week, stating the tournaments for elite and back up players," he told reporters here Tuesday.
Selvaraj said the main objective of being selective was to enable players to be more focused on selected tournaments and not be burdened by competing in back-to-back tournaments throughout the year.
He said since being appointed BAM High Performance director in September, he had been observing and monitoring the progress of the national squad and the main problem identified was repeated injuries to players.
He cited Datuk Lee Chong Wei's back injury at the World Championships in Paris (August) and ankle injury suffered during the recent New Delhi Commonwealth Games last month.
"Such situations hamper players from performing well at tournaments. It may result in them losing tournaments they are supposed to win," he said.
Meanwhile, the BAM has also appointed Lt Col (R) Jasmi Omar as the commander of the national badminton team to oversee their discipline.
"Starting next month, all players will be required to gather and sing the national anthem before starting their training session and raise the Jalur Gemilang.
"They must also be in attires that spot the Malaysian flag. It will enhance their patriotism but it doesn't mean they are not patriotic," said Selvaraj adding that the appointment of Jasmi was part of BAM's transformation.
Source from BERNAMA
