Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has proposed joint training sessions between BAM players and Road to Gold (RTG) independent shuttlers to elevate the standard of Malaysian badminton.
The RTG independent squad includes world No. 4 men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin and world No. 9 mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Lai.
The RTG national team features world No. 2 men’s doubles Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, world No. 5 Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun, world No. 2 women’s doubles Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, and world No. 4 mixed doubles world champions Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei.
BAM: “No issues with joint training.”
BAM secretary Datuk Kenny Goh says the association welcomes collaboration and has previously invited independent players to train at ABM, even during the pandemic. Further discussions will be held with doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky and RTG coordinator Datuk Stuart.
On sponsor differences:
BAM players are under Yonex, while independent pairs are sponsored by Victor, but Kenny Goh says this will not be a barrier:
“Sponsorship issues can be resolved — none of these are problems we can’t overcome.”
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