‘Fight starts now’
Minister wants shuttlers to work hard for Olympic slots
KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has called on national shuttlers and Badminton Association of Malaysia ( BAM) leadership to start working hard from now on to ensure Malaysia quali fies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Syed Saddiq said he was pressing the panic button for badminton following the poor performance by players even though he held high hopes for Malaysian shuttlers to play at the Tokyo Games.
“BAM leaders and I have very high hopes for the players. I am confident they can go far...the push must start now, I know BAM is carrying out various measures,” he said when opening the Under15 Badminton Championship organised by Astro at Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara.
“We need to frequently meet athletes, give them overall focus, if I need to meet the players every month, I will do it, I want to ensure we all including the athletes have to work hard in preparation for the Olympic Games.”
I am confident they can go far... the push must start now, I know BAM is carrying out various measures. Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Youth and Sports Minister
“As I have stressed before, athletes have to be obsessive and compulsive, focus to win...the fight to win must start today,” Syed Saddiq said.
Meanwhile, BAM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria called on all parties to be patient as BAM is working hard to ensure badminton gets at least two qualification slots at the Olympics.
“The system is functioning well, we could see results on the overall especially in the mixed doubles, men’s doubles and women’s singles.
“We want to strengthen the overall departments of badminton, perhaps we need a coaching director. I need to look into our financial constraint. The matter should be studied in detailed.
“Sometimes I feel the money is better spent on giving exposure to the players especial ly in qualifying for the Olympics next year,” he said. — Bernama