BAM to identify talented youngsters via National Junior league

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) hopes more local young talents will be churned out through the AirAsia BAM National Junior League which was officially launched on July 15, last year.

Its president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the association was delighted to see the enormous response from the youngsters especially the students taking part in the inaugural youth badminton tournament at the state level from October to December, last year.

“We have achieved an incredible level of participation from young players and schools across the whole nation, and we are hopeful that future world class players are among the many youngsters participating. Thanks to AirAsia, our other key partners and all the stakeholders, we are able to provide an efficient support system to develop these talents,” Mohamad Norza was quoted as saying in a statement issued on behalf of BAM.

In the same statement, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the low-cost national carrier company was delighted to be among those taking part in the league.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this initiative. AirAsia is about making dreams come true and this league is perfect for that,” he said.

“We want young Malaysian players to achieve their full potential and we hope that, through this platform, we can support their aspirations as well as help this country be recognised as a world badminton nation once again,” Fernandes added.

Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara would host the 2017 National Junior League Finals which is set to take place from Jan 11-14.

Winners in the respective categories will get automatic entry into the state-of-theart Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) located behind the Stadium Juara.

The champion for each category will also receive RM20,000, runners-up RM15,000, third place RM10,000 and fourth RM5,000.

The League has proven to be a huge success at state level with 242 schools taking part, comprising 349 teams - 200 boys’ teams and 149 girls teams, and with a total number of 2,930 players from 14 states and also the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. Bernama