KUALA LUMPUR: There is no denying that women's badminton in Malaysia is in dire straits.
For years now, there has been a lot of talk but very little action to address the concern.
Yesterday (April 29), the national team failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Uber Cup in Chengdu following a 5-0 thrashing by Thailand in a Group B tie. Malaysia, who lost 4-1 to Taiwan in their opening tie, will end their campaign against Australia tomorrow (May 1).
Former international Ong Ewe Hock believes there can be no improvement if the talent pool from the grassroots remains small.
"We have been talking about women's badminton in Malaysia for a very long time, but how are we going to fix the issue?
"In the national team, we have only four or five women's singles players. How do we expect to challenge other top teams with four or five singles players?
"The biggest problem here is the talent pool."
"I believe it is high time for the BA of Malaysia and the government to collaborate with local clubs.
"Everyone needs to come together as one ecosystem. Just look at women's badminton in Thailand. The clubs there produce so many top female shuttlers.
"Here, club players are those dropped from the national team. This has to change."
Ewe Hock, who runs a badminton club, also suggested a long-term plan to stop the rot.
"Results won't come overnight. We need a long-term plan, maybe 10 years, to fix this problem.
"Currently, there is still a huge gap between clubs and the national body," added Ewe Hock, a member of BAM's technical advisory panel.
It is worth noting that BAM did not expect much from the young Uber Cup team this year.
The national body even excluded the top women's doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to allow them to focus on preparing for the Paris Olympics.