The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) yesterday announced the appointment of Michelle Chai Han Ching as its new general manager and also Dr Suresh Kumar as Malaysia Badminton Academy acting head.

BAM president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said both individuals were selected to fill the respective posts based on their vast experience and that he was confident the duo will help the national body to achieve the mission to churn out more talented players for the country in the future.

Prior to their appointments, Chan was the assistant Chief Executive Officer of United Arab Emirates Football Association while Dr Suresh was a consultant at a multinational company.

"Michelle will be tasked to look into the development of players at the junior level while Dr Suresh will focus on managing the completion of our academy and also be responsible for the implementation of a quality management system for BAM," he told a press conference to introduce the duo here Wednesday.

On the appointment, Chan, who has a 16 years experience in football administration, noted that she was delighted to return home after working abroad for the past six years.

"Opportunity to serve in our homeland came at the right time, so I told myself why not give it a try and the main factor that drove me to work at BAM is the effective junior development plans initiated by Mohamad Norza," said the Kedah-born who holds a Masters in Business Administration from University of Newcastle, Australia.

Sharing her views was Dr Suresh who hoped that the academy would be fully completed soon to ensure that BAM could run the daily operations smoothly.

"It will not be an easy task for me but based on my vast experience in quality management, I will do my best to ensure this academy will be completed soon," said Suresh who holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford Centre for Leadership, United Kingdom.

-- BERNAMA