PETALING JAYA: The national shuttlers have received a boost following the appointment of Julian Lim (pic) as the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) new head of sports science and medicine.
Julian worked in the Singapore Sports Institute previously and is set to play an important role in ensuring that the shuttlers are in the best physical condition possible going into tournaments.
Reducing injuries among the players will a priority on Julian’s to-do list with the likes of Ng Tze Yong, Justin Hoh (men’s singles) and Yap Roy King (men’s and mixed doubles) among those sidelined this year due to various issues.
Tze Yong is facing a race against time to save his Paris Olympics dream after undergoing back surgery last week while Justin is working his way back from a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Roy King is set to make a comeback after two months in the Swiss Open (March 19-24) along with Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and Valeree Siow in the men’s and mixed doubles respectively but will have to remain cautious to prevent further injuries.
“I’m happy to be on board with BAM. I have 15 years of experience in the high performance industry both as a practitioner and manager, and I’ve worked with athletes competing in major events such as the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games and SEA Games,” said Julian.
“My job is to ensure that all the players receive the best services in terms of strength and conditioning, and physiotherapy from our support staff.
“All the support staff need to work together to help the players perform at the highest level, not just in training but in competitions as well.
“I can see that the level here is higher than in Singapore and all the players are very self motivated.
“They bring their 110 percent and are always finding ways to improve. Our main job is to ensure that the players stay injury-free.
“It’s natural for players to suffer injuries due to the high intensity training. So, we need to monitor and manage the training load along with the coaches to reduce the players’ risk of getting injured,” added Julian.
