malaysiang
KUALA LUMPUR, The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is determined to ensure that there are two national representatives appearing in each category at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games after seeing only one national representative listed for the Games which will take place in Paris starting this July.
BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the dream has yet to come true and therefore it requires help and commitment from various parties in an effort to ensure badminton continues to be the biggest contributor of medals for the country at the most prestigious games in the world.
“We have a target of getting two representatives for each category which has not yet been achieved. Regardless, it is still a proud achievement (one representative per category).
“If possible, we want to double it and we will ask the government for help, especially through the Road to Gold (RTG) programme so that we can realise two representatives in the men’s and women’s singles in addition to the doubles category (m
en, women, mixed),” he told Bernama after opening a sports conference here today.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) released the list of athletes who qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics which saw five national representatives namely men’s singles Lee Zii Jia, Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) successfully listed to face the challenge in the sporting event which will open from July 26 to August 11.
It also involved women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei for mixed doubles.
Mohamad Norza meanwhile believes that the five badminton athletes who are making their debut on the Olympic stage will not face any problem in absorbing the pressure of competing in the tournament.
“For us, Jin Wei (women’s singles), Pearly-Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Tang Jie-Ee Wei have had enough exposure (participating in big tournaments) and are not under great pressure.
“The pressure is on the contrary for them to realise that badminton remains a sport of depen
dency for Malaysians apart from cycling,” he said.
In its participation at the Olympics since 1964, Malaysia won a total of 13 medals with nine of them coming through badminton (six silver and three bronze).
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
