Reaching national final has whetted Ramdan’s ambitions

Not done yet: Misbun Ramdan Misbun was the only non-Badminton Association of Malaysia player to reach a final at the recent National Championships in Perak.

ULU KINTA: The comeback story of Misbun Ramdan Misbun in reaching the men’s singles final was one of the highlights at the recently-concluded National Championships.

And the 26-year-old shuttler from the Nusa Mahsuri professional club has promised there is more to come from him in the future.

In his first competition since returning from two operations on his ruptured Achilles tendon in 2015, Ramdan managed to reach the men’s singles final at the Sri Perdana Hall on Saturday. Ramdan eventually lost 19-21, 8-21 to defending champion Lim Chi Wing.

Ramdan was the only non-Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) player to make the final in the five events.

“This is the start of greater things,” said 2012 national champion Ramdan.

“My performance here has given me the confidence to dream big. I’ll work on my weaknesses. Things have changed in the men’s singles over the last two years. I need to keep up with the changes and play even better and move faster.

“Hopefully I can rise as high as Lee Chong Wei (the world No. 1) and be his replacement one day.

“I also desire to represent Malaysia at the Thomas Cup Finals like my dad (Datuk Misbun Sidek) and my uncles (Jalani, Razif, Rashid and Rahman Sidek),” said Ramdan, who achieved a career-high ranking of 43rd in 2013.

At the National Championships, Ramdan had to go through the qualifying rounds.

All in, he played a total of 10 matches – five in the singles and four in the doubles with his brother Shawal. It came as no surprise that Ramdan was a spent-force in the final.

“I’ll continue my training with my dad and coach Salim (Samion) and work on my physical condition. Now I’ll go out for more tournaments,” said Ramdan, who has no world ranking following his two-year absence.