PUTRAJAYA, June 21 — The Road to Gold (RTG) Committee will help professional badminton players under its programme find more conducive training venues, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
She said the RTG Committee is aware that these players are currently training in halls which are also open to the public.
“I hope we can help find more suitable and private training locations for professional athletes (badminton players).
“As it stands, they’ve been training in places like shopping malls where the public can watch them. I believe RTG Programme coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam will coordinate the necessary support,” she said.
She told reporters this after opening the Asean Persons With Disabilities in Sports Conference 2025 here today.
Hannah, who also chairs the RTG Committee, said efforts will also be made to help professional players find quality sparring partners to boost their performance.
Last Thursday, she announced that four professional badminton players — men’s world number one pair Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat–Shevon Lai Jemie — had committed to the RTG programme for the 2025 cycle.
The RTG project, introduced by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) in April 2023, is a national initiative to coordinate Malaysia’s efforts to win its first Olympic gold medal, with focus on the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Meanwhile, Hannah expressed hope that the contract issue involving national women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah, whose deal with the Badminton Association of Malaysia ended last December, can be resolved promptly.
She stressed the importance of settling the matter quickly, as any delay could affect the performance of the world number three pair.
On a separate matter, Hannah said KBS will not interfere in the internal issues or challenges faced by the Harimau Malaya squad in their push to climb higher on the international stage.
Instead, she said it would be up to Football Association of Malaysia president Datuk Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub to resolve the matter.
Media reports recently said that Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski did not rule out the possibility that he, Johor Regent Tunku Mahkota Ismail — who is credited with revolutionising the national team — and the players could come under fire if they failed to beat Vietnam.
However, Malaysia proved their mettle by thrashing Vietnam 4–0 in their second Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 10.
Earlier, Hannah said that about 240 participants, including those from other Southeast Asian countries, attended the two-day conference, which ends today.
She said the conference, themed ‘Inclusive Sports for All: Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges in Asean’, discussed accessibility and ways to further empower sports participation for persons with disabilities. — Bernama
