Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has set up several goals for the 2022 season.
First and foremost, BAM was aiming to advance to the 2022 Thomas-Uber Cup Finals which are scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 8, 2022, to May 15, 2022.
According to BAM Coaching Director, Wong Choong Hann said that in addition to the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals, the Malaysian national team would also focus on the preparations for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (Jul 28, 2022 – Aug 8, 2022), Hangzhou Asian Games (Sep 10, 2022 – Sep 25, 2022) and the World Championships which currently scheduled to be held in Japan, from August 21 to August 28.
“I believe with the current line-up, we can form a strong team. So, we have to try to advance to the Thomas Cup final,” said Wong.
In the 2020 edition of the Thomas Cup which was held in September of 2021 after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia lost to the eventual champions – Indonesia in the quarter-finals.
Malaysia has won the prestigious men’s team tournament a total of five times, with the last time in 1992. The best achievement after that was reaching the final four more times (1994, 1998, 2002, 2014).
Meanwhile, Wong said the target has not been set for the Commonwealth Games, but Malaysia must bring home at least a gold medal.
“We should win gold at the Commonwealth Games, but the exact target has yet to be decided. We will discuss this shortly,” added Wong.
Wong also admitted that Malaysia will face a difficult challenge at the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled from September 10 to September 25, but it is possible to clinch a gold medal.
“I think Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik should have been getting more mature, the opportunity is there and the gold should be within their reach,” explained Wong.
“If they can pay more attention and be more detail-oriented with those small technical elements that could improve their game, I believe they have the ability to achieve victory,” said Wong.
