Hendrawan hopes the European tournaments will help youngsters to elevate their skills
The singles coach of Malaysia, Hendrawan hoped that the series of European tournaments will definitely help his young shuttlers to lift up their standards at the international level.
He was referring to the European events, the French Open and the Dutch International which will be in full swing from April 5-15.
Later, the coach Hendrawan left for these events with his spirited shuttlers, Misbun Ramdan Misbun, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Loh Wei Sheng and Goh Soon Huat.
The badminton guru showed complete faith in his charges as they have proved their mettle in the Axiata Cup where they reached the semi-final round but Hendrawan still believes these youngsters are not fully ripened yet.
He said, “The Axiata Cup has given our youngsters some quality matches and opportunities to gauge where they stand. It is, however, obvious that they still lack experience. But this can be mastered over time.”
Malaysian lads Misbun and Iskandar registered their presence despite of kneeling down to relatively higher ranked opponents Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka and Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the Axiata Cup semi-finals.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has decided to give these youngsters more international exposure by fielding them in the series of European events.
Hendrawan appreciated this step from BAM and the coach believes that international experiences will turn these talented but raw shuttlers into confident and skilled competitors of the arena. He also added that the youngsters will get more opportunities in
upcoming events.
He said, “These European tournaments will be a good platform for them to achieve small breakthroughs. We have also earmarked several other tournaments for them throughout this year.”
The national singles coach also played down the chances of any special consideration and gave a clear statement that every player will be treated equally and they will have to earn their spot in the national squad.
Hendrawan said, “I have made it clear to them that no one will be accorded special preferences. They have to earn the right to play in tournaments and make their way up.”
Malaysia is preparing a complete lot of youngsters to ensure their supremacy at the international level after Lee Chong Wei who will be bidding farewell in the next couple of years.
The young talent like Junior World Champion Zulfadli Zulkifli, Misbun Ramdan, Iskandar Zulkarnain is supposed to join the World Number 28 Daren Liew and the World Number 45 shuttler Wei Feng Chong in this campaign.
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