SEGAMBUT, July 27 — Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Sri Norza Zakaria wants Malaysia to fully represented in the sport for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Badminton is the country’s main source of Olympic medals with a total of six silvers and two bronze since 1992.

"We want maximum representation in Tokyo, meaning 10 in total so we have the best chance to win a gold,” said Norza when met at the Bukit Kiara Auditorium where the signing ceremony took place.

"We’re doing all the necessary things to ensure we hit our targets and since we have a long standing relationship with Ehime, after visiting them last December, I was impressed with what they have to offer and the council approved our recommendations to use Ehime as our base.”

Norza signed a memorandum of understanding with the governor of the Japanese prefecture today to make it their base of preparations for the Olympics.

He said BAM will send shuttlers in batches of 25 to Ehime beginning next month at a biannual frequency and is considering an exchange programme with Japanese students.

With two years until the event, the chances for a gold medal may be slim. The country’s current best hope, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, will be 38 then, and BAM may need to look elsewhere to achieve the ambition.

Olympic gold has eluded Malaysia in all these years, but badminton has contributed several silvers through Lee (2008, 2012, 2016), mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (2016), men’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (2016) and Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock in 1996.

The sport has also delivered a number of bronze medals.

"All Malaysians want that medal but most important thing is to get the maximum qualifiers for the five events,” Norza said when was asked if Malaysia will still maintain the gold medal target.