KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Norza Zakaria believes he is leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in shipshape for future success, including the pursuit of the elusive gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Norza, who has led BAM since 2017, officially stepped down today, keeping to his word to resign as president after the Paris Olympics, despite one-year remaining in his tenure.
His position will be filled by acting president Datuk V. Subramaniam until the association's annual general meeting in either April or May next year.
Norza said he has done his utmost to elevate BAM into a well-oiled machine and transform Malaysia into a world badminton powerhouse.
"When I assumed the leadership in 2017, I prioritised strengthening BAM's finances and governance. BAM became one of the first national sports associations to offer Employees' Provident Fund and Social Security Organisation benefits to athletes, six years ahead of the standard," he said after chairing his final BAM council meeting at Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today,
"That same year, we inaugurated the state-of-the-art ABM, now home to 120 players, including juniors under 18. This facility, equipped with 18 badminton courts, a gym, and a rehabilitation centre, has been instrumental in our athletes' development.
"In a challenging funding landscape, BAM successfully secured landmark sponsorships with Petronas and Yonex. We also shifted our focus from traditional age-based categorisation to a performance-driven, merit-based system, accelerating the growth of our young athletes.
"During my tenure, our players secured 36 BWF titles, two Olympic bronze medals, one Asian Games bronze, and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, and Badminton Asia Team Championships.
"The pinnacle of these achievements were Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik's historic World Championship title, ending a 45-year wait, successfully defending their Olympic bronze medal in Paris, and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah Muralitharan's French Open victory, ending a 109-year drought in women's doubles and also becoming the first pair to reach an Olympic semi-final."
Under Norza's leadership, BAM signed its biggest sponsorship deal with Petronas in 2022 for a three-year period, on top of a five-year sponsorship deal with Yonex worth RM55 million in April 2021.
On the court, the performance of the athletes was outstanding as well, with Aaron-Wooi Yik making history by winning the World Championship in 2022 and earning Olympic bronze medals at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics.
Another success story during his tenure was the rise of Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan, who became the first Malaysian women's pair to win the French Open title.
Recalling his happiest moment at BAM, Norza said he rolled on the floor in celebration when Aaron-Wooi Yik won the World Championship in Tokyo two years ago.
"Winning the World Championship was the sweetest moment. I was rolling on the stadium floor... that was a big moment after 45 years. I always say that by winning the World Championship, we rectified history, we made history... because if you claim to be a badminton powerhouse but have never won the World Championship, you can't really call yourself a badminton powerhouse," he said.
"The same goes for the Olympic gold medal, we need to chase it and work hard to achieve it. Even if I'm not around, Rexy (Mainaky) will lead us to that gold.
"The bitter part is when people misunderstand what we are doing. Some think we're doing it just for fun or to gain glamour, but in reality, we're working to ensure that the power of badminton remains in Malaysia's hands.
"We must improve our system every day. We can't just say we want to improve without having a process to do so, and we have established that process. This process sometimes involves bitter experiences or tough decisions that might cause us to face criticism.
"This feeling of being criticised, I still accept to this day. As the president of BAM, I have no regrets. I have done my best, tried my best, and given my best, and I hope that the next leader will ensure that badminton continues to be a source of pride for Malaysia."