KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — The country’s leading men’s doubles player Soh Wooi Yik wants to max out with night training in the one month left before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in his mission to win a gold medal.
The 26-year-old, who won the 2022 world men’s doubles title with Aaron Chia, has decided to barricade himself at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) dormitory until the team leave for Aire-sur-la-Lys in northern France for a 10-day training camp starting on July 10.
Upping the ante, Soh-Chia and the other shuttlers under the auspices of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) — Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (women’s doubles) and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (mixed doubles) — also asked for extra training at night for thorough preparations ahead of the July 26 to August 11 Paris Olympics.
“I want to stay at the ABM so that I can fully focus and strengthen my preparations without any distractions. I can do my own thing here, like game analysis and easy access to facilities.
“In this short time left, I am focused on improving my gameplay and physical fitness as well as having night training sessions. I also want to rest (in the ABM) after the extra training and don’t want to go anywhere,” he said at the ABM in Bukit Kiara today.
Soh added that the motivational camp with BAM psychologist Frederick Tan in Penang over the weekend was a big help to increase their motivation and mental stealth ahead of Paris 2024, besides teaching them how to face tense situations during the world’s biggest multi-sports Games.
Meanwhile, Chia said the additional two or three evening training sessions a week were focused on refining their skills and technique.
“We do not have much time left, so we use the extra session in these two hours to correct our flaws,” said the player, who will make his second appearance at the Olympics after winning bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Games with Soh.
Chia said that despite going to the Olympics for the second time, the feeling of going to Tokyo was different as the Covid-19 pandemic made ‘business unusual’, which required different preparations.
His current bottom line is that he believes that how they deal with pressure is more important than experience.
— Bernama
