BAMTC: SOON HUAT-SHEVON AIM TO GUIDE YOUNG NATIONAL TEAM

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- Professional national mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Lai Jemie are looking to make the most of the short centralised training camp to build chemistry with the national squad ahead of the 2025 Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) next week.

The husband-and-wife duo will join a lineup of young players at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) for a three-day training session from tomorrow until Saturday before heading to Qingdao, China, for the BAMTC, which runs from Feb 11-16.

Shevon said team chemistry is crucial in building momentum and harmony during team events like BAMTC.

“As we all know, the pressure in team events is different from individual tournaments. So, we will use these three days to build our communication and get to know each other better.

“This time, the lineup does not include top players, and we are not very familiar with some of the players joining. There is also a significant age gap. For me, communication is key, just like it was at the Sudirman Cup," she said when met after a training session today.

Shevon, who was part of the Malaysian squad that won bronze at the 2023 Sudirman Cup, said she would rely on her past experience to assist the team at BAMTC.

“We have played in team tournaments before, with the last one being the Sudirman Cup two years ago.

“So, I hope the experience that Soon Huat and I have can help our team, especially since many of the players this time are young,” she added.

At this year’s BAMTC, Malaysia has been drawn into Group B alongside Indonesia and Hong Kong, with only the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.

Since the tournament's inception in 2017, Malaysia has yet to win a medal in the competition.

-- BERNAMA