Don't be too critical as BAM calls for calm after missing SEA Games target

BANGKOK: The national badminton team should not be handed a 'hukum mati' (death sentence) over a single SEA Games setback and BA of Malaysia (BAM) secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh urges calmness and perspective as officials prepare a structured post-mortem of the sport's campaign.

Addressing questions on badminton's failure to meet its four gold medal target after earning only one gold, two silver and six bronze medals, Kenny warned against knee-jerk reactions during the post-SEA Games press Conference at the The Grand Fourwings Convention Hotel in Hua Mark today.

"I think we should not be too quick to give a 'hukum mati' to the badminton," said Kenny, who is also the deputy Chef de Mission to the 2025 SEA Games.

"Because badminton has short-term and long-term planning, and we have already set milestones for the players." Kenny admits that the SEA Games was one of those milestones and accepted that it may not have been achieved, but said it should not be viewed in isolation.

"One of the milestone is, of course, the SEA Games, and maybe that milestone was not achieved," he said. "But, there are other milestones, such as the World Tour finals, where the milestone may be achieved."

He said the key issue now was whether the programme remained aligned with those benchmarks.

"The most important thing is that they meet the milestones. As long as they meet the milestones, it means we are on the right track," he said.

Kenny reiterated that a single unsuccessful tournament should not trigger drastic conclusions.

"We must not have a knee-jerk reaction where one competition or one multi-sport event does not succeed and we immediately pass a hukum mati," he said.

Questions during the press conference also touched on BAM technical director Rexy Mainaky's post-tournament remarks expressing his readiness to step aside, which reflected the level of disappointment within the camp.Kenny said the issue of responsibility had already been addressed by BAM's leadership and should be viewed collectively.

"The BAM president (Tengku Zahrul Aziz) has already made a statement that it is a collective responsibility," he said. "Rexy may simply have been too disappointed by the SEA Games alone."

Despite defending the overall direction of the programme, Kenny said that the SEA Games outcome would still be scrutinised.

"We still need to sit down in the boardroom and find out what actually happened," he said.

"I don't want to say it failed, but we need to know the real factors so that we can ensure the next milestone does not go off track again."

Kenny said concern would only be warranted if the programme began to drift away from its agreed targets.

"If they start running away from the milestones, then we should be worried and we should do something about it," he said.