I REFER to your article “Early start for juniors” (NST, April, 30) to revive Malaysian badminton by Morten Frost.
Now that Datuk Lee Chong Wei’s doping saga is over, the Badminton Association of Malaysia and its technical director, Frost, can concentrate on preparing the players for crucial tournaments namely the Sudirman Cup in Dongguan, China from May 10-17, the Sea Games in Singapore from June 5-16 and the BWF World Championship in Indonesia from Aug 10-16.
A four-time All England champion and much travelled coach, Frost is a strategist who has included four promising youngsters in the Sudirman Cup. They are Cheam June Wei (men singles), Lim Yin Fin (women singles) and Wong Fai Yin-Chow Mei Kuan (mixed doubles). This is a step in the right direction as it gives them exposure and will boost their development.
Frost is bent on developing a second generation of players through his talent identification and development programme in schools, districts, clubs, academics and in the 14 states through the appointment of qualified coaches. He has vowed to “turun padang” to have firsthand knowledge on what is happening at the grassroots level. As the technical director, he had cracked the whip to improve the fitness of the national players
Within a month of his appointment, Frost had to restructure and revamp the coaching programme as well as review the contract disputes of the coaches’ salaries. He also has a large say on who stays or faces the boot to ensure his strategy and plan of action bring results for our country.
Hopefully, the next five years of his contract will yield positive results through his transformation of BAM and its coaching and development plan to produce a champion of Chong Wei’s mould and calibre.
Good luck, Frost. Please make it happen for Malaysian badminton to rise once again through the concerted effort of all relevant stakeholders minus the politics.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu,Seremban, Negri Sembilan