10 new talents identified
THE Badminton Talent Development Programme (BTDP), a five-year collaboration between Perodua and the Education Ministry, has wrapped up its first year with the conclusion of its national finals at EduCity Sports Complex, Iskandar Puteri in Johor.
Matches among the 128 finalists from primary schools across the country in the nationals were hard fought. This produced the singles champions Lim Jun Lee (Pahang) and Wong Au Mel (Kuala Lumpur) for the under-9, Lim Boon Le (Pahang) and Saidatul Saadiah Muhammad (Sabah) for under-10, and Loh Ziheng (Kedah) and Shaneesa Shahidi (Melaka) for under-11, for boys and girls respectively.
The doubles, solely contested by under-11s, were won by Kee Is Qian and Loh Ziheng (Kedah) for boys, and Dania Avriel Alviera Azif and Dania Sofea (Johor) for girls.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the BTDP was jointly launched with Perodua in February to find and develop badminton talents among primary school children, in the hope that they would one day represent the nation.
“Now, 2,800 children, 140 coaches, 70 badminton development centres, four tournament stages and eight months later, we have 10 young national champions we can all be proud of,” he said.
The ministry’s Sports Director Dr Mehander Singh Nahar Singh attended the event on his behalf. Also present were Perodua presi- dent and chief executive officer Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh, Perodua management and representatives from Daihatsu Motor Company of Japan.
“As a proudly Malaysian company with the slogan, “Building Cars People First”, Perodua is always eager to be involved in activities and initiatives that benefit and make a difference to the rakyat.
“When I saw that many of these children had never even touched a badminton racquet prior to this, but are now highly competent among their peers, I knew we had a great partner in the ministry to potentially change the lives of these children,” said Aminar.
He said they have been given a chance to represent their schools, districts and states.
“It is our hope that they will go on to proudly bear the Jalur Gemilang at regional and international competitions,” he added.
Dr Maszlee said the BTDP is a holistic educational endeavour.
Besides promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, he added that the participants develop camaraderie, sportsmanship, respect and a competitive spirit throughout the programme.
“To the 9- and 10-year olds, we hope you will join again next year. To the 11-year olds, we hope you will build upon the skills and experience gained here and take your game to the next level and beyond,” he said.
Johor Education Director Shaharudin Sharif and Perodua Auto Corporation Sdn Bhd vice president Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad were also present.