Let’s just roll the dice
Liu Ying and Peng Soon taking a gamble by leaving BAM
KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles shuttler Goh Liu Ying has admitted that she and partner Chan Peng Soon took a gamble on their future by quitting the national team “unprepared”.
The 29-year-old said their preparations to turn professional had been far from ideal as there are still many things yet to be sorted out – contrary to the belief that they left Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) for big money opportunities elsewhere.
Liu Ying said they have neither generated sustainable sponsorships nor finalise their coaching and training arrangements.
Still, Liu Ying is adamant that it is a risk worth taking as she sees going independent as the only way to move forward after their performance has stagnated.
“It takes a lot of courage for us to make this change. We have thought about it for many months,” said Liu Ying.
“As our performance as the world No. 6 showed little progress of late, we needed a different direction and a fresh approach. That’s why we want to try our way and see if it could work.
“It’s a risk to leave under these circumstances. But if we don’t do it now, we never will because both of us are not young anymore.
“At least by leaving now, we still have four months left to get ready before the Olympics qualifying period begins on May 1.
“Our target of a winning a second Olympic medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games remains unchanged.”
Liu Ying hopes both BAM and Youth and Sports Ministry will help them to ease their transition as they cut deals with potential sponsors and work out their coaching and training plans.
“It will be a big challenge in the next couple of months. Our three priorities now are securing a coach and a venue to train, and most importantly sponsorships to fund our tournament expenses,” said Liu Ying.
“Hopefully we can get all the three to fall into place at the same time. There’s no point of having a coach but not having a place to train, or vice-versa.
“So, in the meantime, we are negotiating with the BAM if they could continue letting us train at the ABM ( Academy Badminton Malaysia) until we can get things done.
“We have also met Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq (Syed Abdul Rahman) a few weeks back, and we’re delighted when he said the ministry would continue to back us.
“We’re hopeful of tying up with the NSI (National Sports Institute) and NSC (National Sports Council) for their support services. Although we’re independent shuttlers, we are still representing the country, and we need their support to achieve our target in Tokyo.”
Japanese air conditioning company Daikin is the first sponsor to come on board for Peng Soon-Liu Ying. The duo are currently the brand ambassadors.
Ampang Jaya Badminton Club (AJBC) could be next in line as they are currently in talks with Peng Soon on a deal to support them until Tokyo 2020.
“We have informed Daikin about our decision to become professionals and they were supportive about it,” added Liu Ying.
“But surely we need to attract more sponsorships to sustain our training and tournaments expenses. So we are actively seeking for more and are open to offers.”