KUALA LUMPUR: The excuse of being under pressure given by several national players is unacceptable said Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) chief executive officer, Michelle Chai (pix).
This follows a number of national players, notably men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world number six women’s doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah who performed poorly at the Malaysian Open 2023 this week.
“The players said they did not enjoy and are not having the joy to play badminton anymore because they are under tremendous pressure. Why was it that before becoming a world champion and players ranked in the top 10 could handle the pressure? They didn’t just enter ABM yesterday, some have been there for eight years.
“When they were chasing, they can handle pressure, but once they reached the mountain they started complaining. This is our shared responsibility (players and ABM management). We need to find ways to rekindle their joy of playing badminton, which they had when they first started as a kid,“ she said at a press conference at Axiata Arena today.
In fact, Michelle said to realise the country’s first Olympic gold medal dream at the Paris 2024 edition called for the players to give much more sacrifice.
