KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 – Early this month Hubmedia had written to expect more hot-news from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and it turned out to be true when national No 1 shuttler Lee Zii Jia was confirmed to have sent in his letter to quit the national badminton stable.
BAM president, Tan Sri Norza Zakaria confirmed the matter on Wednesday (Jan 19) and the BAM council has already taken a decision which will be announced by his deputy Datuk Seri Jahaberdeen Yunoos at 4pm on Friday (Jan 21).A visibly upset Norza drove home a strong message that BAM took Zii Jia – who is their “main asset” – under their wing since was 13 years old without revealing much more on the bombshell from the Kedahan.
While Norza and his council are reeling from the shock news, the badminton supremo should take immediate steps to stop more from leaving the BAM.
Apart from money, it is unhappiness that has added to the mess.
Norza who is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, should take steps to put the BAM in order.
According to reports, Zii Jia has claimed that he could not take the pressure heaped on him when compared to former World No 1 Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
However, there is more to Zii Jia’s decision to quit. The “politics” in the BAM, especially in the coaching setup, is a serious matter that has created a very unhealthy environment.
Recently, the BAM restructured coaching setup but the damage has already been done.BAM’s former coaching director Wong Choong Hann is now solely in charge of the singles while the doubles coaching director is Rexy Mainaky.
The Indonesia, who is a Malaysian permanent resident, rejoined BAM on Dec 1 last year after a nine-year absence.
Fingers are being pointed at certain personalities for the present predicament in the BAM. Experienced coaches were chopped while inexperienced ones brought in. It did not go down well with many and some players have also quit to become professionals.
Let’s wait and see what happens on Friday.
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