THE National badminton camp are aware that the expectations of stakeholders and the people when shuttlers see action at the 2024 Paris Olympics from July 26 to Aug 11, is to win a gold medal.
Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky said although no official announcement has been made about the medal target, there has been discussions within the sport about medal targets.
“Everyone knows, the main topic of discussion is and will be, from the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) right up the Ministry of Youth and Sports, is to hear the National anthem (Negaraku) being played on the Olympic podium for the gold medal winner.
“If we succeed, everybody will be happy, if we fail, I will be the one facing the brunt (accept responsibility). Right now, preparations are progressing well with the support and assistance of the National Sports Council (NSC) and Road to Gold programme (RTG), I am satisfied,” he told reporters during a press conference at the ABM, here today.
Rexy said he has a (gut feeling) that the men’s double pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei and men’s singles professional player Lee Zii Jia will be among the medal prospects.
The former Indonesian men’s doubles star added that he does not intend to sideline women’s singles player Goh Jin Wei’s medal prospect but based on the former world junior champion’s current form, she has yet to attain the level of challenging for a medal.
Rexy, winner of the men’s double gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with his partner Ricky Subagja after beating Malaysian pair Yap Kim Hock-Cheah Soon Kit, said he had always shared information and motivated players in ABM to excel in the sport, be it on court or outside the court.
“I always share to them, not only technique, but also what needs to be done to be successful, like how to eat without hunger, so need to be always hungry for success and work harder,” he said.
