BAM boss tells Aaron-Wooi Yik not to lose heart

of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria does not want young men’s doubles Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to be disheartened after they were left out of the Asian Games squad.

Following much hype about the duo being selected, especially after they reached the quarter-finals in their World Championships debut in Nanjing, China, Aaron-Wooi Yik didn’t get their Asiad tickets. They have jumped nine rungs to No 26 on the world rankings.

BAM opted to go with their initial choices of 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong and national No 2 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.

Norza said yesterday: “AaronWooi Yik are still young and we do not want to pressure them into performing immediately, just because they did well at the World Championships.

“Instead, I hope they will use this as a motivation to keep pushing themselves to one day be the best. They have all the quality to do so.

“In fact, they accept the fact and have admitted that this is probably not the right time yet for them to play in the Asian Games.

“What’s more important is for us to have more top players perform in the Olympic qualifiers next year.

“As we know, it is every Malaysian’s dream to one day win that elusive gold medal, and we hope to do it in Tokyo two years from now.”

Meanwhile in the AirAsia-BAM National Junior League Selangor state competition, SMK Jalan Bukit Kajang, clinched the boys’ team title after beating SMK Kota Kemuning 4-1 in the final, while SMK Hillcrest Tmn Seri Gombak retained the girls’ team crown after beating SMK Bukit Sentosa 2-1.

Both schools will go on to represent the state in the grand finals in December. Last year, Selangor emerged overall champions in both the boys and girls’ event.