KUCHING: Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA) secretary Abdul Hadi Abdul Kadir expressed disappointment that coaches and parents of players did not consult him before commenting on the performance of the association.
He said they should have approached him to find out the real situation SBA was facing before going to the media to voice out their frustration.
Speaking to The Borneo Post yesterday Hadi said while it was true the state would not be competing in the national age-group competition next week, the players and coaches should understand the pressing financial problem SBA was facing.
He pointed out that SBA had to prioritise the events it is organising to fit its financial resources.
He said the Maybank International Challenge it organised last month here was to bring international level competition to the state to expose local players to higher level tournaments.
However, Hadi was disappointed by the poor response from the public and lack of support from some authorities for the tournament.
Despite the setback, he said SBA would not be deterred from holding high level national or international events in the state.
“Our next high level tournament is the Yonex Sunrise Malaysia Grand Prix Gold next January,” he said.
On criticism that SBA had failed to produce champions of note for quite some time, he pointed out that exceptional players only come along once in a while.
“We cannot produce a Lee Chong Wei every year.
“Even China had gone through such spells.”
Hadi also questioned the achievement of clubs which took some promising junior players under their wings.
“These players were champions in the age-group but why have they not reached their full potential under their training?”
Expressing frustration over the thankless job he had to shoulder Hadi said he sometimes thought of stepping down but he still had several targets he wanted to achieve for the state.
Appealing for better dialogue with coaches and players Hadi said he was willing to meet them and discuss ways to improve the situation.