SHAH ALAM, April 12 — BA of Malaysia (BAM) technical director Morten Frost is not wasting time with preparations for the Olympics.

Fresh off a successful Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open which saw Lee Chong Wei win his 11th home title and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying reach the mixed doubles final, the Dane said: “It’s encouraging seeing younger players do well and our progress is a lot better than last year.

“The Olympic qualification period ends at the end of this month with the May 5 ranking used to decide the qualifiers.

“This has been a tough period and the players are really feeling it.

“A lot of players from other countries are getting tired. Many seem slower and others have minor injuries.”

Malaysia’s chances of winning a medal in the Olympics would be stronger if mixed pair Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying continue their upward performances which saw them reach finals in their last two tournaments.

They won in New Zealand two weeks ago but fell to former world champions Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir on Sunday.

Along the way, the Malaysians defeated world and Olympic champions Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei in the semifinals — their first victory in 10 meetings against the Chinese juggernauts.

Frost, while delighted, preached caution.

“It is hard to say if they will be medal contenders in the Olympics,” he said.

“We must assess the situation fairly, but they were fantastic and exceeded expectations.

“For the Olympics, we must believe in ourselves and set realistic goals.”

There were other bright spots too.

Women’s pair Woon Khe Wei and Vivian Hoo Kah Mun performed aggressively before losing a hard-fought match to world No 1 pair Misaki Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan.

World No 197 singles shuttler Chong Yee Han qualified for the main draw after beating former world No 3 Kenichi Tago of Japan in the qualifiers.

With new sponsors Celcom Axiata stepping in to work with BAM for the next three years, there is still much to be done for in terms of development.

The right direction would be to place importance on the younger players who will eventually replace Chong Wei.

Separately, BAM general manager Lawrence Chew said they would consider hosting the tournament outside of Kuala Lumpur next year.

Putra Stadium would not be ready and there is a lack of suitable stadiums in the Klang Valley.

One venue could be Spice Indoor Stadium in Penang which hosted the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in January.