In 2011, Malaysian shuttlers impressed with three gold medals at the World Junior Championships. The absence of the Chinese players at the championships did not take the shine off the sterling display from the Malaysian juniors.
With the likes of boys’ singles champion Zulfadli Zulkifli, much was expected from the group of youngsters to bring more glories to Malaysia in the future.
Malaysia also won the boy’s doubles title through Nelson Heg Wei Keat-Teo Ee Yi and the team gold medal in the tournament held in Taiwan from Oct 28-Nov 6, 2011.
Fast forward to 2020, and what was promised just nine years earlier seems to be just dreams, especially in the men’s. While four players from the squad had made it into the current national women’s squad, none of the male players were seen as good enough for the current national men’s squad.
Zulfadli, who had beaten 2010 champion Denmark’s Victor Axelsen for the title, was perhaps the biggest disappointment. He was banned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for his involvement in match fixing.
In contrast, Axelsen has gone on to win the world senior title as well being a mainstay for the Danish team till date. Japan’s Kento Momota, who was a bronze medallist in 2011, won the junior title the following year and is now the top ranked player in the world with the world senior title under his belt.
Nelson Heg, who also won a bronze in the mixed doubles with Chow Mei Kuan in 2011, is also long forgotten. After a senior career that saw him and his partner Teo Ee Yi winning the 2012 Dutch International and Finnish Open in 2013, Nelson’s career took a dive. He quit the team in 2015.
His partner Ee Yi, forged a partnership with Ong Yew Sin in 2016 and the pair are currently ranked 15th in the world and bagged their biggest title till date – the Thailand Masters earlier this year defeating China’s Huang Kaixiang-Liu Cheng in the final. However both players were dropped from the national squad in January.
All the other alumni from the 2011 world junior gold medal squad – Nur Azriyn Ayub, Goh Giap Chin, Jani Sant Enos, Low Juan Shen, Calvin Ong Jia Hong, Soon Joo Ven, Tai An Khang – have either retired from the game or plying their trade as independent shuttlers.
In the women’s side, Joyce Choong Wai Chi, Lim Chiew Sien, Lim Yun Fun and Yang Li Lian are also no longer with the national team.
But unlike the men, Sonia Cheah, Chow Mei Kuan, Lee Meng Yean and Shevon Jemie Lai are still going strong in the national women’s squad.
But compared to the likes of Ratchanok Intanon, Carolina Marin, Nozomi Okuhara, Lee So Hee and Shin Seung-chan, the Malaysian women are no where near the same class.
Former international Datuk James Selvaraj said that the ability to improve oneself and become a world beater depend very much on the players themselves.
“There is only so much the coaches and the association can do. If the players do not have the desire to be a champion and work hard for it, nothing will change,” said James.
He said the failure of the players from the 2011 squad could be because the players themselves did not have the winning mentality or had lost the interest in the game.
James added that the Malaysian players were a pampered lot and must work hard at their game. They also need to take the risk of making changes to improve their game.
He cited the case of squash champion Nicol David, who took the big step of moving overseas to work with Liz Irving, whose coaching methods coupled with her won determination transformed her into a truly world class player.
“Zulfadli could have been a world beater had he not been stubborn not to join the national squad. He wanted to be coached only by his father. And his stupidity in fixing matches caused him a great career,” said James.
He added that of the current batch, he only sees singles ace Lee Zii Jia having the potential at the world level.
“I also see some potential in Yew Sin-Ee Yi. But with them being dropped from the national team, it puts a question mark on how they can reach their potential,” said James.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi are currently ranked 15th in the world with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik the highest ranked Malaysian pair at number nine.
“Aaron and Soh still have glaring mistakes in their game. The coaches can keep working on improving their strengths but if they do not work on improving their weaknesses, they won’t be able to make the grade,” said James.
Last week, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria claimed that Malaysia will be one of the badminton giants in two years.
Just what is the BAM doing different now compared to what they did between 2011 and 2020 for its president to have such confidence?
Over the last two decades, the management of the transition of exceptional junior players to senior level has been atrocious, with the exception of Tan Boon Heong, who went on to forge a world beating partnership with Koo Kien Keat. Boon Heong had won the world junior doubles title with Hoon Tien How in 2004. Thien How is now one of the men’s doubles coaches in the BAM set-up.
Between 2004 and 2011, Malaysia also won the doubles titles through Mak Hee Chun-Teo Kok Siang (2008), Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han (2009) and Yao Han Yew Hong Kheng (2010).
Where are they now? They never made it at the senior level and are virtually forgotten now although Kok Siang is now a mixed doubles coach with the BAM.
Injuries and ill-health has virtually brought the career of two-time girl’s singles world junior champion Goh Jin Wei’s career to a virtual standstill. It would be take a herculean task for Jin Wei to repeat her successes at the 2015 and 2018 world juniors at the senior level.
2013 Asian Junior boys singles champion Soo Teck Zhi is another player whose senior career never took off.
While the coaches bear some responsibility in charting the future of Malaysian badminton, much of it success the last decade has been at the back of the performance from the now retired Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
Can the coaching set-up, that has seen numerous changes in recent years, turn things around in the next two years?
Can players mindset be changed in such a short time? While Zulfadli and Tan Chun Seang’s match fixing scandal was a dark spot on Malaysian badminton, it is a known secret some players in the current squad do also have problems with gambling.
What is being done to tackle this scourge?
The BAM has a coaching committee comprising of not a single person with actual elite level playing or coaching background. It is a committee comprised of purely administrators and even a former sports journalist. Do they have the technical background to actually give valuable inputs to the development of the players?
What is the role for former players including the likes of Chong Wei himself? While Chong Wei has been giving plenty of encouragement and pointers to players, he does not have any official role within the BAM set-up.
Rumours are that Chong Wei does not see eye-to-eye with some of the officials and policies, hence his non-appointment to any official role.
Two years to be giant in the game is an admittance that we are not a powerhouse now. It is not an impossible dream but it will need some earth shattering changes and will to get it done.
About Post Author
