KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The country’s badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei who is expected to be named as the team manager for badminton’s Road to Gold (RTG) squad ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, will have his work cut out for him.
Apart from assisting the players to receive the best support during preparations for the prestigious Olympic games, the three-time Olympics silver medallist wants to change the mindset of the players in the current era of the game, so they will not be pampered.
The 41-year-old former world number one said the approach and mentality of the current players, are very different from when he was a player, which assisted his goal of becoming among the best players in the world.
“Nowadays what is the most difficult issue is coaches, because everything needs to be discussed with the players. During my time, the coaches did not discuss it with me. If you want to train, you train, if you do not want to train, you can go back. But now it is different.
“I want to start changing the mindset of the players, we cannot be pampering them, we need to be firm. If we pamper them, they may feel BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia) needs them and not that they need the BAM. This is something that needs to be balanced,” he said when met at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia, earlier today.
Lee, winner of three consecutive silver medals in the Olympics (Beijing 2008; 2012 London; 2016 Rio) added that discipline was the key to becoming a world-class player.
“The whole world knows that discipline is the key to success, without discipline, (you) cannot be a top player. There are many ways to discipline yourself, like getting up in the early morning for training. The overall duration as an athlete is very short, how are you going to maintain these few years is very crucial,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lee reminded all athletes listed under the RTG programme and prospects aiming to qualify for the Olympics, to be cautious, get enough rest and be focused on training to avoid injuries.
He said the qualifying period for badminton was challenging and shuttlers will have a one-year period starting from May 1 this year.
“It is very important to avoid injuries and put up a consistent performance in all competitions participated.
“Every tournament is tough because every country wants to qualify for the Olympics and also wants to fight for seedings. It is very important to avoid certain players. I can say the Olympics is a dream for all, only once in four years, it is a big competition, so need to be focused,” Lee said.
He added that simultaneously, he is also planning a strategy to ensure Malaysia has two players in the men’s singles, with the country’s professional player Lee Zii Jia as the main target while it is also hoped that Ng Tze Yong will be able to qualify.
Lee also promised to work hard to assist the National squad to win the country’s elusive first-ever gold medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics which is scheduled from July 26 to August 11, next year.
Yesterday, the BAM suggested to the RTG committee to appoint Lee as the team manager for RTG’s badminton squad to Paris 2024.
— Bernama
