Shuttlers can’t wait to get out of ‘isolation’
ONE whole month of isolated training is driving Cheam June Wei nuts.
The 23-year-old national shuttler said he cannot wait to leave the compound of the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) for some fresh air when the 30-day Road to Tokyo (RTT) programme is relaxed, starting today.
June Wei, along with 16 other shuttlers, were among the first batch of Malaysian athletes given clearance by the government to resume training on June 1 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the strict standard operating procedure (SOP), all 17 players, along with their coaches and other support service staff, were not allowed to leave or have contact with anyone outside the national training centre in Bukit Kiara.
“Of course I am grateful to be able to resume training at ABM but we never had any real interaction with people outside.
“It's mentally exhausting,” lamented June Wei, who only had World No 10 Lee Zii Jia and coach Hendrawan for company.
According to June Wei, the players came up with creative ideas to amuse themselves but there was only so much they can do.
Even training grew boring for June Wei who only sparred with Zii Jia every day.
“I am not saying it was bad, don’t get me wrong but it really gets to you.
“With the limited number of people, there is only so much one can do.
“Credit must be given to coach Hendrawan, who was constantly mixing up his training programmes for us, but after awhile even that gets tiring.
“We just can’t wait to step outside. To take a drive, to visit our families and have some time to do things we like,” he added.
June Wei is itching to see how far he has come, after having trained alongside Zii Jia for the past one month.
Since BAM have yet to finalise their tournament planning, June Wei wants to impress the national body to make the Thomas Cup squad
“Training has been good so far. I would say our performance is about 70 to 80 per cent.
“The remaining balance is when we start playing in tournaments,” he said.
The rest of the national squad will report back for training on July 5, while the independent players will join Thomas Cup training programme on July 15.