Rexy Mainaky – Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 27): The Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) plan to restructure its coaching and player line-ups is expected to be decided tomorrow.
BAM Deputy Director of Coaching, Rexy Mainaky said the matter would be discussed at tomorrow’s Coaching and Training (C&T) Committee meeting that would be chaired by BAM secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh.
“I can’t comment further because there is a C&T meeting on Tuesday. Only after that will we know (the details on the restructuring plan),” he replied briefly when met after the closing ceremony of the Purple League Pro-Am 2021 (PLPA) tournament in Petaling Jaya near here yesterday.
On Thursday, BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said the restructuring was being done following the inconsistent performance of the national squad in the last nine tournaments, starting with the Sudirman Cup in Vantaa, Finland, last September.
Rexy also explained that the pairing of mixed doubles player Chan Peng Soon, who is Rio 2016 Olympics silver medallist, with Valeree Siow, has not been finalised.
“Right now Peng Soon is paired with Valerie, (but) we still need time for them to be more compatible, to understand each other. The pairing is not final,” said the former world and Olympic champion from Indonesia.
Asked about plans for the elite shuttlers next year, he said the 2022 campaign is expected to start with a series of tournaments in Europe starting with the German Open from March 8-13, All England (March 16-20) and the Swiss Open (March 22-27), before moving on to Asia for the Thomas and Uber Cups (May 8-15).
Meanwhile, Rexy said he wanted to hold talks with men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who have not shown consistent performance since winning bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Rexy explained that the benchmark of advancing to the semi-finals of each tournament he placed for the world number seven doubles pair, was based on their world rankings, whereby he believed that every player occupying the top 10 rankings should focus on challenging for titles.
“We saw the Japanese duo, Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi emerge champions of the World Championship and BWF World Tour Finals back-to-back. If Aaron-Wooi Yik play consistently and focused, they can beat the Japanese pair, this I am not just kidding, but based on their ability.
“This is not pressure on them, but a challenge because to be world-class players, they have to do something challenging. It will motivate them to be better,” he said, adding that he will meet Aaron-Wooi Yik after they return from their year-end holidays. – Bernama