KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The performances of young national shuttlers has been gradually improving, said former world number one Wong Choong Hann.

“For the past six months, since the middle of last year, these young players’ performance has been gradually improving. I could see that they are working very hard to improve themselves.

“I can see from their results that they would be able to become better ranked players,” the 30-year-old Choong Hann said when commenting on young players like Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin.

Yesterday, Iskandar took only 20 minutes to book a slot in the main draw of the ongoing Malaysia Open 2016 Badminton Championships by beating Alistair Casey of Scotland in straight sets 21-7, 21-4 at the Malawati Stadium.

Choong Hann was met after launching the AmMetLife 2016 Health Day event, aimed at educating school children on the benefits of staying healthy and instilling important values such as respect, teamwork and communication among students, at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina St Teresa, Brickfields, here today.

“I believe it is key to educate kids from a young age so they can recognise the role that health plays, and continue to remain active when they get older. Today’s activities is also aimed at showing kids that participating in sports with their friends can be fun, exciting and remains an easy way to exercise and maintain fitness,” he said.

At the event, Choong Hann together with former national men’s doubles player, Lee Wan Wah, conducted a coaching clinic and fun filled activities for Year 4 to Year 6 pupils.

Also present during the event was AmMetLife Insurance Berhad chief executive officer Ramzi Toubassy, its chief marketing officer Ang Swee Choo and the school headmistress, Ong Lay Jin.

MetLife is a leading health insurer in Asia, and their partnership with Ambank, one of the largest banking groups in the country, is dedicated to creating products and services that help improve and protect the health of their clients. — Bernama