BAM’s deputy president Al Amin Majid says Malaysia will prepare a strong squad for 2016 Thomas Cup
AL Amin Majid, the deputy president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) said that the governing body is looking forward to prepare shuttlers and set up a strong squad for the 2016 Thomas Cup.
While talking about the 2012 Thomas Cup Finals, Al Amin said that it will be a difficult task for the current team to even reach the semi-final but they will surely get good results in the 2016 edition of this championship.
Al Amin also said that Thomas Cup, being the most prestigious team event always remains important and will always be among the priorities of BAM.
However, he also said that this year, London Olympics holds more importance because Malaysia has never won even a single gold medal in this mega event whereas they have won the Thomas Cup for five times.
He also clarified that putting emphasis on Olympic Games does not mean that the governing body is not giving importance to Thomas Cup.
He said, "However, this does not mean the Thomas Cup has been discarded from our priority list. We emphasised on the Olympics because we have never won gold before while we have been Thomas Cup champions five times.”
While talking about the fact that BAM mainly depend on World Number One Lee Chong Wei in Men’s Singles and World Number Six Tan Boon Heong – Koo Kien Keat in Men’s Doubles, Al Amin said that all these shuttlers have proved their worth in the Thomas Cup Preliminary Round, in Macau.
He said, "There have always been comments on our over-dependence on Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and they have delivered and we have qualified for the Thomas Cup Finals.”
Al Amin also expressed that after Olympic Games, all shuttlers in the national squad will be evaluated for BAM’s next plans.
He also put emphasis on creating a new project and special team of officials to build a strong squad for the 2016 Thomas Cup as according to him Malaysia might not be able to challenge the world in the 2014 edition of this tournament.
According to Al Amin, a long term plan will be put into practice after Olympic Games in order to elevate the level of shuttlers and make them fully prepared for 2016 Thomas Cup.
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