Youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh has praised the Road to Gold (RTG) programme after the historic success of Malaysian shuttlers at the Badminton World Championships in Paris.
Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei clinched gold in the mixed doubles while Pearly Tan-M Thinaah took silver in the women’s doubles.
In a Bernama report, Yeoh said the results showed that government funding for the RTG programme was producing results.
“Their success is a significant achievement for the RTG, which has invested funds for all these four shuttlers,” she told reporters at KLIA after welcoming the players home.
Yeoh also praised Chen and Toh for bouncing back after their brief split in March, saying they were now among the world’s top mixed doubles pairs.
“Sometimes, your perseverance will take you to the next breakthrough. I am very happy that they continued to work hard after resuming their partnership and never gave up,” she said.
She also praised Pearly and Thinaah for inspiring women’s shuttlers by turning “imagination into reality”.
The minister confirmed that the four medal-winning athletes qualify for the National Sports Incentives Scheme, which awards RM20,000 for gold medallists and RM10,000 for silver.
She added that discussions with Badminton Association of Malaysia president Tengku Zafrul Aziz might lead to additional incentives.
