Virus deals big blow to Boon Heong's academy

TAN Boon Heong's efforts to unearth future Olympic and world champions through his badminton academy have been dealt a big blow by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Boon Heong, who was one of the world's best doubles players, set up the TBH Academy last April. It has six centres in the Klang Valley with three full-time coaches.

The academy has 200 players, mostly from the Under-15 age group.

However, all badminton activities came to a halt after the government enforced the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18.

Indoor sports are still not allowed under the current Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).

Several foreign players were on the verge of joining the academy to train under Boon Heong and TBH head coach Shiah Tian Loong before the MCO. But plans were cancelled.

Boong Heong, who won the 2006 Asian Games gold medal and the 2007 All England crown with Koo Kien Keat, however, is not giving up hope yet.

"My main objective is to churn out badminton champions, not to make big profits. The Covid-19 has made it very challenging, but I am not quitting yet," said the 33-year-old.

"I will make sure the TBH Academy survives these tough times.

"It has been very tough financially. However, I still have a bank balance to cover the needs of my full-time coaches.

"A group of foreign players were supposed to join TBH Academy for training but we had to cancel it.

"Although we are unable to train the players on the courts, we are conducting online physical training sessions through the Zoom App five days a week.

"However, kids love training on the courts. It is also tough to monitor our players via online sessions. I hope they will not lose interest in the game."

On the other hand, Boon Heong is "lucky" as he does not need to pay court rentals at the moment.