KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) holds to the principle of not spoiling any players as it could affect them negatively in any future championship they compete in.

Its coaching director, Rexy Mainaky said such an approach would "kill” the player’s career and infleunce mental strength and stunt the development of the national squad.

Mollycoddling players even if they are uninspiring on the court when competing could affect them negatively in the long-term.

"People sometimes say to rise up stronger but we don’t know how the players interpret that. It’s not that I don’t like it, but sometimes players need criticism,” he said at a media conference on the national players’ assessment in ABM, Bukit Kiara here today.

He said players deserved to be criticised if they didn’t perform as hoped as it could serve as a benchmark for them to improve their performance in the future.

The Indonesian-born coach believed that criticism could challenge players to prove what they really had in themselves.

"Until when do we spoil them? Why can a coach be criticised but not players? We critique players because we care. I don’t blame netizens but as I said, you need to be a little bit tough sometimes.

"If fans keep saying there’s no problem even though they play badly, they’ll become complacent. What you say daily, will have an impact on their mental state,” he added. — Bernama