Only fools rush in
Choong Hann wants to ensure young shuttlers don’t fall between the cracks
Despite the impressive performances by Malaysian shuttlers at the recently-concluded World Junior Championships, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann will not throw them in at the deep end. The 41-year-old prefers a calculative effort to avoid the players from taking in too much too soon.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Wong Choong Hann will not throw the youngsters in at the deep end as he bids to groom a new generation of players.
The 41-year-old was impressed by the performances of the national junior squad at the recently- concluded World Junior Championships in Markham, Canada.
Goh Jin Wei led the way by claiming her second girls’ singles crown while girls’ doubles pair Toh Ee Wei-Pearly Tan Koong Le also excelled with a runners-up finish for the nation’s best outing in the event.
Malaysia also had five quarter-finalists in Ng Tze Yong and Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin (boys’ singles), Eoon Qi Xuan (girls’ singles), Ee Wei-Chia Wei Jie and Pearly-Choong Hon Jian (mixed doubles).
These batch of players will be promoted to the senior squad next week and the onus is now on Choong Hann and his team of coaches to nurture these young talents into world-beaters.
Knowing that many past Malaysian world and Asian junior champions have failed to emerge from the ranks, Choong Hann is eager to ensure that these shuttlers do not end up in what he coined as the “sandwich generation”.
The “sandwich generation” he was referring to are the group of stagnant players – often in their 20s – who are stuck in between the cream of the crop and the emerging juniors.
Choong Hann said the coaches will not rush these players straight into action. Instead, they will be equipped with “adequate weapons before they go to war”.
“We, the coaches, must try to extract the potential out of these young players handed to us (from the junior squad),” said Choong Hann.
“As a start, we will have to assist them in certain aspects such as physical growth, strength conditioning and most importantly, equip them with the right amount of skill sets, which I think would be the main weapon so that they can go to ‘war’ with confidence.
“It’s crucial for us to work on players’ mindset and their skills before we can even think about drawing up a strategy to beat higher-ranked opponents.
“You don’t chase a Ferrari with a Kancil. No matter how hard you train, you’re not going to win. “You must get yourself upgraded to a Porsche, then only you could take on a Ferrari.
“When they eventually get their chance to play in tournaments, it’s okay for them to bite the dust. But they must learn, become smarter and be more analytical during the game,” added the 2003 World Championships silver medallist.
Choong Hann also pointed out that many national players have failed in their transition previously because they could not move away from their comfort zone.
“We have heard how players complained about their struggle to produce their best game despite going the extra mile in their training, why is that so?” said Choong Hann.
“The question here is that when some players think they have done their best preparations and pumped up to take the court, are they actually ready? Or is it that they are ready based on their own comfort zone?
“Some players just don’t realise that they have overlooked this element. This is where we must come in to assist. We can’t just come out with a training programme for them, we have to do more than that.”