Fret not as BAM will keep shuttlers on their toes

PETALING JAYA: The national shuttlers had better be on their toes although there will not be any international tournaments until end of this year.

This is because the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) intend to keep them occupied on and off the badminton court.

BAM’s coaching and training committee chairman Datuk Kenny Goh said they hope to host creative local events while they wait for the season to resume in January with two Asia legs and the World Tour Finals – all in Thailand.

The Asia legs and Finals were supposed to be held in Bangkok in November and December respectively but the Badminton World Federation (BWF) have postponed them to next year.

The players have been without any international tournaments since play was suspended after the All-England in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Denmark Open in Odense from Oct 13-18 will go on as planned but Malaysians are not taking part.

“We will make sure there are events every month starting from this month for the players here,” said Kenny.

Kenny will sit with national coaching director Wong Choong Hann today to firm up their plans.

They’ve already conducted an internal tournament and the President’s Cup over the last two months, which were successful.

“We can’t be doing the same. We’ll think of something different for the players. Three more months without any international tournament is a challenge ... we don’t want them to be bored.”

With all the players housed at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM), Kenny said it would be convenient to conduct classroom activities too.

“This is our chance to conduct refresher classes as all players will be around. We will invite court officials to brief them on badminton rules,” he said.

“We also plan to have classes to educate them on their rights as players. There are other things too like how to manage their finances, time and etc.”