The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) are doing the best they can to motivate the national shuttlers who are sorely lacking in competitive action by kicking off the Mixed Team Championships in superheroes fashion.
A total 124 shuttlers took part in the friendly affair which began on Monday, split into four teams –Terminators, Avengers, Transformers and Dominators – comprising 31 players each.
The tournament was played in Sudirman Cup format – 11 matches which involved men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and three-on-three events for men and women.
On Monday, the Terminators led by national number one Lee Zii Jia romped to a 7-4 victory against the Dominators captained by Aaron Chia.
It presented an opportunity for the juniors to give the seniors a battle and catch the attention of the coaches when the season restarts next year.
Lee Shun Yang, who won the National Junior Ranking Challenge on Saturday, continued in the same vein to beat Lim Chong King 15-12, 15-14.
For Ng Tze Yong, who won an internal meet in August, it was an opportunity to upstage Zii Jia.
The national back-up did his best, but lost 10-15, 13-15.
“The main purpose of this competition was to bring relationships between the senior and youth players closer. I felt the spirit and atmosphere in the competition was lively,” said Zii Jia, who will play Aidil Sholeh of team Transformers next.
Aidil, who is another back-up, will be looking to make amends after losing to the younger Jacky Kok from team Avengers.
National coaching director Wong Choong Hann said the motive of this tournament is not to prepare the players for next year, but to ensure everyone gets a competitive streak.
“There is no need to worry about the current situation because if the focus is given throughout training, the return will be almost the same during competitions,” he said.
This event will play out until Wednesday.
