KUALA LUMPUR - Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has admitted that players under its auspices who competed in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games did not meet the set target after failing to bring home the gold medal.
BAM secretary-general, Datuk Kenny Goh said however he did not want to give any excuses on the achievement and instead wanted to immediately forget about the matter and focus on improving the performance of the national players in the future.
"We failed to hit the target but badminton is still a sport that gives medals to the contingent in almost every Olympics. Maybe some say it's just bronze but it's not easy, I thank you for the support.
"So I don't want to give excuses for putting this thing behind and making improvements," he told reporters in a press conference today.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the pair under the auspices of BAM only managed to bring home the bronze medal through Aaron-Wooi Yik in the men's doubles while two other pairs, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women's doubles) and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles) advanced to the bronze medal decider and quarter-finals respectively.
Meanwhile, Academy Badminton Malaysia, coaching director, Rexy Mainaky said he had mixed feelings about the performance of his charges at the prestigious Games.
He is of the opinion that the BAM players have not completely failed since they managed to show improved performance compared to before.
"The mixed feeling is because he is unhappy because he failed to bring home the gold medal, but he is also happy based on the performance of the players.
"They almost won the gold medal. I hope after this there will be no more word "almost” and I hope I can bring home a gold medal," he said. - BERNAMA