Lee (centre), MBA chairman Jong Lau Koo (fifth right) and coaches (right) pose with the shuttlers who won medals at the recent MSSM tournament held in Selangor.
MIRI: Miri Badminton Association (MBA) believe their shuttlers will emerge from the Sarawak Junior State Closed tournament from March 27-29 with flying colours.
Assistant Minister of Sport Datuk Lee Kim Shin said this confidence stems partly from the benefit of having two full-time professional coaches from Indonesia.
“The use of the professional coaches in training and development are behind Miri being dubbed as “the centre of excellence” in badminton in the state,” Lee remarked when he met the Kuching-bound junior shuttlers at Miri Indoor Stadium yesterday.
“Currently, MBA have shuttlers as young as six years old for the comprehensive training with the coaches,” he noted.
“We are confident for our shuttlers to shine in the state-level championship.”
The association reached another milestone when their boys doubles pair took second place and girls double pair third place at the MSSM tournament held in Selangor last week.
MBA will send off a total of 31 shuttlers comprising 21 boys and 10 girls to compete in the coming state junior tournament in Kuching. They will compete in the Under-12, 14, 16 and 18 singles and doubles events.
Lee also stated that top shuttlers from the championship will represent Sarawak in the 100 Plus National Junior Inter-State Mixed Team Championship to be held in Negri Sembilan from June 11-14.