M’sia to develop more young badminton players – Dr Wan Azizah
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is committed to developing more young badminton players in Asia.
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the government encouraged and applauded efforts between the private sector and independent organisations to help make this commitment a reality.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the patron of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), said the role of leaders, both in the government and private sectors, was to enable the younger generation to receive opportunities in sports so that they could represent the country at the global level.
“Through consistent nurturing and training, our young talents will be able to meet the demands of local and international competitions.
“The earlier we begin grooming them to take on the global stage, the higher the chances of them succeeding with an advanced skills set and rich experience on their side,” she said when launching the Astro Junior Mixed Team Championship Regionals Under 15 (U-15) at Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara here yesterday.
Dr Wan Azizah said the private sector in Malaysia which generally contributed towards sponsorship of professional athletes, developing them through platforms such as the Astro Junior Championship (AJC) Regionals, was equally important.
She said the AJC Regionals also provided the competitors an opportunity to meet and bond with friends from nine countries across Asia over the next few days, to build relationships and to make history in the first-ever U-15 mixed team badminton championships in Asia.
AJC Regionals is seeing a total of 160 players from 14 teams from China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia competing.
“Today, I would like to commend the strategic partnership between Astro and BAM as the regional Astro Junior Mixed Team Championships U-15 provides an additional avenue for training and a competitive-play experience for mixed teams,” said Dr Wan Azizah.
Meanwhile, she said it was also important that the tournament included young girls, providing them with an equal playing field in this sport.
Dr Wan Azizah said Malaysia women had shown their mettle in the sport, with the likes of Chow Mei Kuan-Vivian Hoo winning the gold at the Commonwealth Games this year.
“Of course the mixed doubles pair, Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon are no strangers to Malaysians having just qualified for the inaugural BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou from Dec 12 to 16. This pair also made history as the first Malaysian mixed-doubles pair to win the silver at the Rio Olympics,” she added. - Bernama