James says junior shuttlers lack mental strength after BAJC flop

New Straits Times

a day ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia badminton may be riding high at senior level, proud lofty world rankings and all that, but disappointingly not so at junior level.
So, what's wrong with the country's junior development after Malaysia failed to win a single medal at this week's Badminton Asia Junior Championships (BAJC) in Indonesia.
Not a single podium finish in Solo, not even a bronze, never mind silver or gold.
Malaysia's campaign came to an embarrassing end on Friday when all their remaining players were wiped out in the quarter-finals.
Former national high-performance director Datuk James Selvaraj said the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) needs to strengthen the players mentally.
"How many tournaments have the junior players participated in before the BAJC? It looked like some of them lacked experience compared to their Asian counterparts.
"There's not much depth in the talent we have now, especially in the singles department.
"We have to work with the material we have and improve the quality of talent coming through to the national level."
At the BAJC, high hopes were placed on girls' doubles Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu — silver medallists at the last World Junior Championships — but they fell 21-19, 21-12 to China's Cao Zi Han-Chen Fan Shu Tian.
Mixed doubles Loh Ziheng-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan lost 21-18, 21-12 to Indonesia's Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya-Rinjani Kwinara Nastine, while Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah-Dania Sofea were beaten 21-23, 21-7, 21-13 by China's Chen Jun Ting-Cao Zi Han.
Malaysia had also exited the mixed team quarter-finals earlier in the tournament, ending their campaign without a medal.
Malaysia last won the BAJC mixed team title in 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. The last Malaysian to win the boys' singles title was Leong Jun Hao in 2017.
"These players are surely disappointed with their results, and some may even fear being dropped from the team," said James.
"The coaches need to help them bounce back mentally. The players also need to watch and analyse their matches — they must learn from their mistakes.
"They should also observe how other players, especially the seniors, play and learn from them.
"These young players need competitions to gauge whether they are improving. Training alone won't be enough — they need competitions to push their abilities."