Kuala Lumpur: The founder of Petaling Badminton Club (PBC) Jack Koh told Malaysian media that his badminton club is committed to provide full support to Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong in achieving their goals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Our main sponsors including Platinum Victory and Top Glove have agreed to sponsor these players and we are looking forward to more sponsorships from other private companies as well,” said Koh who is also the founder of the Malaysia Purple League.
Currently, Goh V Shem is playing for the Petaling BC in the 2018/2019 Purple League, while Tan Wee Kiong is playing in India’s Premier Badminton League, and does not belong to any of the badminton clubs in Purple League.
Koh also stressed that even though Goh V Shem/Tan Wee Kiong have left the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), but they are still playing for Malaysia too. Therefore, he was hoping the players could maintain a good relationship with the Youth and Sports Ministry and BAM after turning professional.
“These players would still need National Sports Institute to help maintain their fitness and some high-quality sparring sessions at least two to three times per week with players from BAM.”
Meanwhile, Goh V Shem who will be celebrating his 30th birthday on May 20th, clarified the rumors that they couldn’t withstand the four-month ultimatum given by BAM which required them to have until April of 2019 to get back on the winning track or else will be dropped.
“We have been with BAM for 16 years and we faced a lot of pressure all the time. We are used to it. Therefore, the main reason of leaving BAM was not because we couldn’t take the pressure from BAM, in fact, we do not want to be the roadblock for BAM in nurturing young players as we will be 30 in this year, we are not young anymore,” said Goh.
