The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is extremely worried following the shortcomings of their men’s singles players during the Malaysia Masters.
Technical Director of BAM, Morten Frost has admitted there are early signs that Malaysia is in danger for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“The situation is clear, our men’s singles are struggling. We do not want to hide this but it’s not going to take a short time to solve the problem,” Frost told Harian Metro.
While Frost praised certain players such as Tan Jia Wei, R. Satheishtharan and Lee Zii Jia for their performances in the Malaysia Masters, he wasn’t happy about everything else he saw.
“There were also some below-par performances and it is very disappointing. What I saw would make it difficult for Malaysia to win gold in the Olympics but after two years I can tell you a definitive answer whether we are ready or not; four years is a very long time,” said Frost.
Frost also said that the young players still have a lot to learn as the next two years are crucial.
“We have a good group of young players between 17 and 19 years old and they can prove that in a few years that they can be among the 10 world’s best, but not all are capable of being champions,”
No Malaysian men’s singles player have gone past the third round of the Malaysia Masters following the absent of world No. 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei and the withdrawal of national no. 2 player Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin due to injury.
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