Peminat badminton pasti kenal siapa Cheah Soon Kit, Lee Wan Wah, Choong Tan Fook dan Koo Kien Keat. Mereka ini adalah sebahagian pemain kelahiran Perak yang telah mewarnai sukan badminton Malaysia di dalam dan luar negara.
Atas dasar ini, pihak kerajaan negeri dengan kerjasama Persatuan Badminton Perak serta disokong oleh Persatuan Badminton Malaysia (BAM) dan Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) telah menubuhkan Akademi Badminton Perak.
"Kesinambungan ini perlu diteruskan agar negeri ini terus dapat berkhidmat kepada negara," ujar Setiausaha Kehormat Persatuan Badminton Perak, Mohd Zambri Bahri.
Tambah Zambri, "Objektif dan dasar penubuhan akademi ini dapat meningkatkan standard pembangunan badminton, khasnya di Perak, agar ia lebih sistematik dengan mengikuti spefikasi latihan dan R&D terbaik."
Beliau juga mahu melihat lebih banyak penyertaan dan sokongan daripada pihak swasta agar badminton dapat dipupuk awal dari peringkat akar umbi.
"Saya mahu swasta melihat sukan sebagai satu industri. Dengan ini, kemajuan sukan dapat direalisasikan manakala prospek badminton negeri lebih cerah," ujar Zambri lagi.
Setelah enam tahun penubuhannya, hasilnya kian jelas apabila hampir setiap tahun ramai pemain daripada akademi ini seperti Lee Ying Ying dan Eoon Qi Xuan dipilih menyertai BAM.
Ammar Hakim
Tue Nov 01 2016
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