The Badminton Talent Development Programme is a new collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Education Malaysia and PERODUA which provides a highly-competitive badminton tournament for Malaysian schoolchildren between the age of 9 to 12. Along with its philosophy and objective to unearth and broaden the country’s new talent pool in badminton, PERODUA embarked on a five-year mission via the Badminton Talent Development Programme which started off with the inaugural edition in 2018. The second edition of the Badminton Talent Development Programme concluded successfully recently with the staging of the National Finals on 20th October 2019 in Ipoh, about 200km away from Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur with 224 players from 16 regions making up the final list.

The 2019 edition commenced in March 2019 where coaches in each states successfully trained 2,800 primary schoolchildren at 70 identified badminton development centres nationwide. This year’s edition was even more competitive with the addition of the 12 year-old category, along with the existing categories in the first Badminton Talent Development Programme of the age 8 to 11. For the first time, the Under-12 challenge saw the inclusion of the boys’ singles, girls’ singles and for the first time, mixed doubles categories.

It was a day filled with thrills, fun and excitement as 224 finalists made their way to the Arena Badminton Perak in Ipoh for the conclusion of the four-day National Finals on 20th October. The arena itself was full of life and vibration, providing a perfect stage for players to strut their stuff on the courts. Local spectators and fans turned up in droves with full support to witness the country’s future badminton stars in action. Loud chants and cheers were the order of the day as 11 categories were contested in the finale. The players’ excitement and commitment were clearly evident as they gave their hearts out on the courts in pursuit of top honours for their respective states and contingents.

The tournament started off with the Girls’ Singles Under 9 category, which saw Penangite Mirza Batrisyia Aghnia Nazri brushing aside Sabahan Chua Jing Xuan 21-13, 21-8 in slightly over 19 minutes, followed by the Boys’ Singles Under-9. The Girls’ Single Under-11, Mixed Doubles Under-12 and the Boys’ Single Uunder-9 saw keenly contested competitions where players were dragged into deciders.

Off the courts, various side activities took place around the venue including PERODUA exhibition booth, free car inspection for Perodua car owners and sales of tournament merchandise.

The tournament ended on a high note in the afternoon with special parade by players by all 16 participating contingents followed by the colourful award ceremony where the winners’ trophies were presented by Dr. Ahmad Rafee Che Kassim, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad and the Ministry of Education’s Sports, Co-curiculum and Arts Division Director Encik Zainal Abas. Happy and smiling faces were all around as contingents and players head home to their respective states with sweet memories and gear themselves up for another exciting edition next year.

“The great thing about the Badminton Talent Development Programme is that it helps the schoolchildren instil good values such as respect, discipline, determination, sportsmanship, punctuality, humility and cleanliness apart from living a balanced lifestyle of sports, studies and family. As a proud Malaysian company, Perodua is very happy to be working with the ministry.” said Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad.