KUALA LUMPUR, May 7: Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has rejected claims that the national governing body lacks talented singles players.
Several parties had claimed that the lack of good singles players led to the disappointing performance of BAM’s men’s team in the recent Thomas Cup tournament.
BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh said the governing body actually has talented players in the individual events, but the squad has at times been unfortunate due to injuries.
“I do not agree when people say we (BAM) lack talent. Perhaps we have just been unfortunate in the singles events because we already have the talent, but then injuries happen.
“You all know how many players are injured, while some are still recovering and others have only just recovered. So I don’t think we lack talent; we have just been unlucky in that aspect,” he said when met yesterday.
To ensure that BAM does not run short of new talent, Kenny said the governing body’s talent scouts continuously monitor various national tournaments throughout the year.
Besides monitoring national tournaments, BAM also conducts Talent Identification selections at least twice a year to ensure the country’s best players can be identified and absorbed into BAM’s development system.
— BERNAMA