Kuala Lumpur: Deputy president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) Datuk Mohamad Norza Zakaria was disappointed after Malaysia lost to Asia All-Stars last Sunday for the consolation third-fourth place match based on overall points scored.
“There were two reasons for our failure at the Axiata Cup. First, we were relying too much on Chong Wei. Secondly, we were expecting senior players such as Chong Wei Feng and Daren Liew to deliver,” said Norza.
“However, it became a problem when Chong Wei Feng and Daren Liew failed to step up in the absence of Chong Wei,” added Norza.
“I am very disappointed of our singles players in Axiata Cup. If Chong Wei Feng could show some good senior leadership, the team could have played well in the tournament.”
Despite the blame game, several Malaysian youngsters – Lim Chi Wing, Low Juan Shen-Ong Yew Sin,Tan Chee Tean-Shevon Lai Jemie did very well by winning the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles respectively at the 2014 Yonex-Sunrise Bangladesh Open International Badminton Challenge last Sunday.
BadmintonPlanet.com’s note:
Blaming players will do little help to improve their performances. On the other hand, BAM should make a thorough assessment of the situation, get an understanding of why they failed to shore up world class badminton players despite many young Malaysian shuttlers have shown their potentials by winning either the Asian junior badminton championships, or the world junior championships.
