KUALA LUMPUR – The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has no plans to send the national senior squad to compete in the 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam at the end of this year.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said the senior squad, who include newly crowned All England men’s singles champion Lee Zii Jia and top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, have been excluded from the biennial Games to allow them to focus on four major championships this year.
The four major tournaments are the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Thomas and Uber Cups in Denmark, the world championship in Spain and the Sudirman Cup in China.
“We have forwarded a proposal to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to send a squad comprising young junior players to compete in Hanoi.
“I believe this move will motivate the players to represent the country at the 2021 SEA Games because it is a big championship as most of the badminton greats hail from Southeast Asia,” he said at a media conference after attending the 2021 SEA Games selection committee meeting at Wisma OCM here today.
The national badminton squad contributed three gold medals in the 2019 Manila SEA Games through Zii Jia, Aaron-Wooi Yik and S. Kisona in women’s singles.
Kenny hoped that the selected players can return to action as soon as possible to ensure that they can mount a real challenge at the games.
He said the BAM was conducting an analysis of other countries’ squads that will be competing in Hanoi.
“What is important is that players must be focused and train wholeheartedly to compete in the 2021 SEA Games,” he said.
Work harder
Fresh from his All England triumph, Lee Zii Jia has received sound advice from his father – work harder to win many more championships in the future.
Lee Chee Hin, 54, said his 22-year-old son’s career had just begun, and he hoped that he would not be content after being crowned champion of the world’s oldest badminton tournament.
“My family and I were at the edge of our seats watching the final on television last night as he had to endure a tough challenge against his rival. After winning the first game, he lost the second.
“But we were relieved when he regained his focus and snatched victory in the third game. Despite facing so many challenges in the past few months, he still managed to put on such a great performance,” he told reporters at his house in Darul Aman Heights recently.
Zii Jia ended Malaysia’s four-year wait for the men’s singles crown by defeating defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the final at the Utilia Arena in Birmingham.
Zii Jia’s mother Leow Siet Peng, 53, said her son had been under tremendous pressure especially after his performance against some players was questioned on social media previously.
“He had to face uncertainty as soon as the international calendar began in Bangkok early this year. He became more stressed after seeing five of his seniors dropped by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in February.
“He also felt guilty about his lacklustre performance at that time and became withdrawn. He talked less to the family and would only communicate through messages,” she said.
Siet Peng, who represented Malaysia in basketball in the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore, said the entire family was worried about Zii Jia’s situation before the All England.
“After receiving the cup and medal, he managed to have a video call with the entire family to share his victory. He asked us to look at the cup as much we wanted because he could not bring it home as it was to be kept in England,” she said.
