KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Nadzmi Mohd Salleh has been encouraged to run for the presidency of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) by the head coach of China.
Current BWF President Kang Young-joong of South Korea said last month he would step down from the role in May after eight years at the helm and Indonesian Justian Suhandinata has already made clear his intentions to run for the post.
China head coach Li Yongbo feels that Nadzmi, the head of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, has what it takes to popularize and spread the sport beyond its main Asian base and pockets of Europe.
“Nadzmi is a good choice. He has the clout and credentials to increase the popularity of the sport to a wider base,” Li was quoted as saying by the Malaysian Star newspaper yesterday.
“He has been in the badminton circle for many years and is supportive of the game.” Badminton came under fire during the London Olympics last July when four women’s doubles pairs from South Korea, China and Indonesia deliberately played to lose their matches in order to get a more favorable draw.
All four pairings were disqualified and banned after the farcical scenes putting in doubt the sports inclusion in future editions of the Games.
Despite the problems, London saw a record 51 countries participating in the sport with the BWF saying all sessions were sold out.
“Our sport has the potential to be popular beyond the Asian and European region and we need to aggressively promote it,” Li said.
It is compulsory for players ranked in the top 10 of the BWF rankings to compete in Super Series Premier events but Chinese players have become infamous for retiring midway through matches or pulling out from tournaments due to injuries.
According to Li, the newly elected BWF president will have to take a serious look and prune down the hectic badminton calendar to solve the problem.
“There are just too many tournaments. We need to cut it down. I would suggest that we limit the number of competitions and increase the prize money,” he added.
“Better income will surely widen the participation of the players and motivate them even more.”
China head coach backs Malaysian for BWF top post
China head coach backs Malaysian for BWF top post
Carrick relishing Frank reunion as Man Utd host Spurs
- Carrick has enjoyed a perfect start to life as interim United boss
- Frank remains under intense pressure in his first season at Spurs
LONDON: Michael Carrick will go head to head with Thomas Frank just months after interviewing the Tottenham manager for television as Manchester United seek a fourth successive Premier League win on Saturday.
Former Spurs, United and England midfielder Carrick has enjoyed a perfect start to life as interim United boss — beating Manchester City, Premier League leaders Arsenal and Fulham.
Next in line for United are Spurs, 14th in the table after a miserable Premier League season so far.
Carrick, who replaced the sacked Ruben Amorim last month, interviewed Frank ahead of the Dane’s first Champions League game in charge of Tottenham.
“(Life) certainly can change,” said Carrick as he reflected on the Amazon Prime interview in September. “I really enjoyed it, actually.
“We got on really well. It’s the first time I’ve met him properly and we had a good chat just about general kind of football things... I enjoyed it, so it will be good to see him again.”
Former Brentford boss Frank remains under intense pressure in his first season at Spurs despite their impressive Champions League campaign and a recent uptick in results.
Last week’s 2-2 draw at home to City extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
“They certainly bring a challenge,” Carrick said. “I think you can see especially the way they finished the game the other day.
“They’ve had players injured and ins and outs, and a lot of changes to the team, which makes things a lot more challenging, a lot more difficult from their perspective. But they’re getting players back.”
Tottenham won all four of their meetings against United last season, including May’s Europa League final in Bilbao.
Carrick hopes to end that run against a club at which he spent two seasons before moving to Old Trafford in 2006.
“Coming here (United) was a jump and a big jump at the time,” he said. I certainly felt that pretty quickly and then I think once you step inside this place as a footballer, it turns you.
“So, pretty much from the first day walking into the dressing room and meeting the manager, from then on in that was me.”
