PETRONAS Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) will continue to engage with players under its umbrella in the coming months to further strengthen their physical and mental toughness as they prepare for Paris 2024 Olympic Games next year.
Michelle Chai, who assumed responsibility as PETRONAS ABM Chief Executive Officer in October last year, said while Petronas ABM has its own set of responsibilities to provide the best atmosphere, facilities, programmes and training environment, players themselves need to realise their main responsibilities as national players.
“We will continue to provide the most conducive training and living environment and best programme, but at the same time, players have to realise the big responsibility they carry on their shoulders, especially as we step up the momentum in our hunt for the elusive Olympic gold next year,” said Chai at a press conference here at Axiata Arena. Also in attendance was PETRONAS ABM High Performance Director, Dr Tim Jones.
She stressed on the serious need for players, especially those in the elite bracket with world standings, to be able to manage pressures before and during competition as well as ensure proper players’ diet if they were to remain at the top of the game.
ABM will continuously review the performance of its players based on targets given to them and help them to perform to their best ability. “We will review the players’ performance case by case, get to the root of whatever problem they face before taking the next course of action should they continue to fail in their tournament,” said Michelle.
ABM will continue to monitor players under its umbrella in the coming Opens in India, Indonesia, German, All-England and the Swiss Open.
Meanwhile, Dr Jones said that the current badminton landscape has changed tremendously with bigger challenges as compared to the last 10 years.
“Players have tremendously improved, we’re seeing players from Bulgaria coming up strongly here…it’s getting harder to qualify for quarterfinals now than before with tremendous pressure. But we are here to support and help players in whatever capacity that we have,” said Dr Jones.