He said the disappointing results on home ground made BAM realise the need to be better prepared, with the main mission being to help the national shuttlers reach peak form at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Norza, who is joint chairman of the road to gold (RTG) programme, said BAM is in discussions with youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh and Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky on the need to narrow the gap with other world champions before the Olympics begin on July 26.
“The reality is that when we organise world-class tournaments like this, it is a disappointment not just for us (BAM) but also the fans when not a single representative managed to make the semi-finals or finals for the second year running.
“But we must not write them off yet. Instead, we must give them all the support necessary,” he said.
Commenting on the individual performance of shuttlers under BAM, he said top men’s doubles players Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik performed satisfactorily but lady luck was not with them in the quarterfinals, where they lost 21-16, 18-21, 13-21 to South Korean world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae.
“Aaron and Wooi Yik are among the top five pairs in the world. At any time, those who are in the top five can beat each other, the deciding factors on match day are luck, mentality and preparation,” he said.
He also felt that the results produced by the national number one women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah were not too bad considering they gave a good fight to China’s Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning before going down 20-22, 15-21 in the first round.
“Pearly just recovered from an injury but they gave a good fight to the eventual champions. Before Pearly got injured, they were capable of playing long rallies.
“They (Pearly-Thinaah) are up there (with the best), just that we need to strengthen them physically to ensure durability on court,” he said.
The eighth-seeded Sheng Shu-Tan Ning stunned their fifth-seeded compatriots Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu 21-18, 21-18 to win the women’s doubles.
Norza said top mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei are on par with the world’s top 10 in terms of quality, but still lack maturity and are held back by nerves.
Tan Jie-Ee Wei went down 22-24, 14-21 to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito in the second round.
Norza noted that men’s singles ace Ng Tze Yong still needs time to regain his physical strength after the shuttler was forced to concede a walkover when trailing 8-12 against Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round due to a back injury.
Norza, who is also the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, said national badminton legend Lee Chong Wei had a right to hit out at some of the national players who chose to vacation abroad just weeks before the tournament started on Jan 9.
Norza said he respected Chong Wei’s views, because the former world No 1 had experienced the highs and lows of badminton at the highest level.
The media recently reported Chong Wei saying Malaysia’s dismal performance was due to their poor preparation ahead of the curtain-raiser for 2024.
The three-time Olympic silver medallist also questioned the conduct of several shuttlers who chose to vacation abroad during the Christmas period, despite knowing the tournament was to start on Jan 9.