Asian Games cannot take backseat to Olympics, warns analyst

The pursuit of Olympic gold should not overshadow the importance of the Asian Games, according to sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli. He criticized the approach taken by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) following Malaysia's performance at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Malaysia's badminton squad returned with only a women's doubles bronze, falling short of the one-silver, one-bronze target set by BAM.

The only Malaysian shuttlers to reach the podium were Pearly Tan and M Thinaah. Analyst Pekan questioned whether the association and players showed sufficient hunger for medals at the continental Games, suggesting that Malaysia should not take the Asian Games lightly. He expressed his impression that players and the association did not exhibit enough determination for medal-winning performances at the Asian Games.

Malaysia suffered early exits across various individual events, with men's singles players Leong Jun Hao and Justin Hoh exiting in the last 16, and women's singles representatives Wong Ling Ching and K Letshanaa exiting in the second and first rounds, respectively. The men's doubles challenge also ended in the second round, as did the mixed doubles pairs.

Analyst Pekan urged BAM to consider other factors beyond world rankings when setting medal objectives, emphasizing that players should carry responsibility for delivering medals. He warned that focusing expectations solely on the highest-ranked players could leave others less accountable for their performances. Analyst Pekan also criticized the association's perceived greater urgency only when the Olympics approached, stating that clear key performance indicators for players should be established and enforced consistently.