BAM have failed to elevate the status of the national circiut

PETALING JAYA: The absence of several top elite shuttlers and many walkovers took the shine off the Terengganu Open, which ended on Saturday.

The poor participation certainly showed that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) had failed in their bid to elevate the status of the national circuit even though there had been big talk about popularising the domestic championships.

If the BAM continue to waver in their stand to make the event compulsory for the best of best, the local circuit is set to suffer a natural death.

And Malaysia can forget about using the tournament as a platform to unearth new stars for the country.

Missing from the Terengganu Open were world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei, top men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and No. 1 national women’s shuttler Wong Mew Choo.

The BAM had given Chong Wei, who wanted a break from a hectic schedule, the nod to skip the Open before the player suffered a knee injury in the Japan Open.

They also allowed Kien Keat-Boon Heong to skip it because of the duo’s commitment to sponsors, which saw them extending their stay in Tokyo for days more after the international Super Series tournament last week.

And it seems that Mew Choo’s absence is due to her injury acting up again.

Their absence failed to provide the back-up shuttlers and upcoming juniors an avenue to brush shoulders with the best in the country.

On top of that, the entries for the women’s singles in Division One was also pathetic with only seven players in the fray.

There were also 14 walkovers in the Division Two competition. The girls’ doubles and mixed doubles events had fewer than 16 entries respectively.

The limited number of local Open tournaments also reflected several state’s poor running and promotion of the sport.

The Terengganu Open was not only the second leg of the circuit but also the final stop on the calendar this year. Pahang hosted the other Open in May.

In the past, the states compete against each other to win the right to host tournaments. The states’ lack of interest could be due to poor funding, lack of facilities or the office bearers were probably too occupied in ensuring their seats in the association.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur were the badminton powerhouses in the country. But they are currently clearing the mess as far as their administration is concerned to ensure that development of the sport is not neglected.

It seems that the BAM are unable to get some of the “sleeping states” back on their feet. Probably, some of the officials in the BAM are also trying to keep their seats. After all, they are selected to the “hot seats” by the states representatives.

The BAM general manager, Kenny Goh, agreed that their circuit needed to be reviewed to make it a main attraction event for the local players.

“Scheduling is a problem. Sometimes, we are put in a spot because the elite players also have commitments to play in international tournaments,” he said.

“But I agree that the participation of top players is important to maintain the stature of the circuit championships. We will look into this and work on making it a popular event on our calendar.”

The National Grand Prix Finals will be held in Johor Baru from Dec 20-23.