Asia meet in Indonesia test ground for Misbun - Norza

KUALA LUMPUR: The 2023 Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia next month will be a testing ground for coach Datuk Misbun Sidek to see how his charges measure up on the international stage.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said this was because the national junior squad failed to shine at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Santander, Spain, last October.

"Misbun (as junior singles coaching director) has set his main performance indicators (KPI) to forge success at least at the Asian level if not at world standard.

"I hope Misbun as a coach knows what he is doing while we always support him to train our junior team to achieve success at the Asian level," he said after attending the 2023 Olympic Day celebration: Olympic Council of Malaysia-Ministry of Education at the Bukit Jalil Sports School here today.

Malaysia will be represented by 16 players at the Asian junior meet from July 7-16.

They are Eogene Ewe, Jan Jireh Lee, Muhammad Faiq Haziq, Lok Hong Quan (men's singles); Ong Xin Yee, Siti Zulaikha Azmi and Ung Yi Xing (women's singles); Bryan Jeremy Goonting, Low Han Chen, Aaron Tai Wei Qin, Kang Khai Xing and Hong Quan (men's doubles); and Carmen Ting, Lai Ting Cen, Chong Jie Yu, Clarissa San and Chan Wen Tse (women's doubles).

Meanwhile, Mohammad Norza, who is also Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, said the listing of the national hockey squad in the Road to Gold (RTG) programme was based on the excellent run of coach Arul Selvaraj's men in several tournaments.

He said it could be the best tonic for the national hockey squad to book a slot for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games if they can make an impact at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China this September.

"The hockey team, now ranked 10th in the world, are listed in RTG as we think the top facilities will inspire them to win gold at the Asian Games because if they win, they will qualify for the Olympics," he said.

Last Monday, the RTG committee confirmed the national men's hockey squad as the newest entrant to the programme.

-- BERNAMA