Time to plan ahead for Rio 2016 Olympics

I GUESS London 2012 is done and dusted for the Malaysian contingent. All the promises, all the hype and all we’ve got is one silver medal to show for it, courtesy of Lee Chong Wei.

To say that Chong Wei ( pic) is great is doing injustice to the sport and he himself knows it. Let’s not try to soothe our ego.

He came, he saw and he was beaten by the greatest in the game of badminton. Period!

What Lin Dan has achieved may never be emulated but then again they said the same of Mark Spitz’s achievement. Let’s us move on.

Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong were a big let-down and rightfully action has been taken to address the situation.

Chong Wei came within a whisker of bringing back that elusive gold but came up short, yet again.

So the big question is Project Rio 2016. Can we (let’s be brutally honest here) rely on Chong Wei again, he will be 34 by then while the much heralded Chen Long will be 24.

Who’s to say that Lin Dan won’t be vying to be a triple Olympic champ? Do not let emotion rule the day. Yes he (LCW) came so close.

Eleven months ago at the same venue he also came within two points of being World Champion but on both occasions Lin Dan emerged triumphant. Let’s learn from history as it has a habit of repeating itself.

This is where the system, our athletes programme is to blame. Focus, resources must be shifted to blood the young crop of players. Enough of sending our ageing shuttlers to competitions to make up numbers in the Super Series. Send the young national players instead and let them gain exposure, save for tournaments of note such as the All England and World Championships.

There is no point of being World No 1 but not a world champion.

Speaking of World Champion let us not forget that the other Penangite, Datuk Nicol David, ranked No 1 since 2006 has six world championship titles to her name, amongst her other accolades.

If only squash was an Olympic event. Can someone entice her with an RM2mil gold bar for her to secure her seventh world title?

And whilst outpouring support was given to the silver medallist of London 2012, let’s not forget that Nicol has six to Chong Wei’s none. The resources thrown to Nicol are small compared to what Chong Wei has at his disposal. Go figure!

Take stock of what we need to do, so that Rio 2016 may be a better hunting ground for us to continue the search for the elusive gold.

The BAMs, the NSCs must be realistic and also progressive.

It is not dearth of talent that will kill Malaysia’s effort to chase that glimmering gold but lack of forward planning and strategic thinking of the officials running the country’s sporting bodies. LAWRENCE LIM Kuala Lumpur