We can have best coaches from China, but shuttlers have to do more

Just imagine. China’s Lin Dan and our own Lee Chong Wei coaching our men’s singles badminton players, with Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat or Denmark’s Peter Gade also in the equation.

It would be a dream line-up of coaches. After all, these are all men’s singles legends from the recent era who can easily connect with the current generation of players.

The youngsters all look up to them and adore them. These mega stars are all retired now - but that dream line-up will always be a dream. None of them are likely to take up the position as Malaysia’s men’s singles coach.

There are many different reasons.

Gade may be an exception and could work here as he is the only one still involved in coaching, but he is doing fine in his country. The others are not into coaching.

Malaysia, meanwhile, is in need of a good coach and in the past few weeks, many names have been bandied about, and there has been some far-fetched speculation.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky did confirm that Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark and Mulyo Handoyo of Indonesia are on his radar but it’s learnt that nothing has been firmed up.

Jonassen may struggle with the culture here while Mulyo, who was behind Taufik’s rise to a star, is already 63.

It’s unsure whether he will be able to lead a bigger group.

Mulyo is older than Korean maestro Park Joo-bong, 60, who will also be free by end of this year as Japan did not extend his contract.

On the local front, we have plenty to choose from - Datuk Misbun Sidek, Datuk Rashid Sidek, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Ong Ewe Hock and Foo Kok Keong, just to mention a few.

The BAM, however, have made it clear that they want foreign coaches.

Besides Rexy, they already have two other Indonesians - Nova Widianto in the mixed doubles and junior coach Jeffer Rosobin - who are doing a great job.

I have high respect for Indonesian coaches who are of exceptional quality and my all-time favourite Indonesian coach is the modest “Pak” Christian Hadinata and Henry IP (Iman Peirngedi) who are both humble and dedicated coaches.

But do we need another Indonesian in the coaching set-up? Why don’t we hire someone from China for a change?

After all, China are the badminton powerhouse. They have depth. At any time, when a senior retires, there are several others champing at the bit to take over.

We used to have Chinese coaches - remember when we hired Fang Kaixiang, Han Jian, Yang Yang which eventually led to Malaysia winning the Thomas Cup in 1992?

Not many know the important role played by another Chinese Zhou Kejian too at the junior level. He built the foundation for our juniors during his stay and under him, we won many junior titles.

Malaysia’s last coach from China was Li Mao. And Chong Wei will attest to the fact that he was one of the best around.

So, who can we hire from China?

I can think of this cool character Xia Xuanze, who beat Wong Choong Hann in the 2003 World Championships final in Birmingham, and did well as a coach for China after his retirement.

Xuanze was not only a great No. 1 player but has also shown his prowess as a coach since he and Zhang Jun replaced former tactician Li Yongbo in the national set up. Even a provincial coach has quality in China.

The BAM may have to mix it up to add the coaching quality and I’m sure Rexy is having a headache choosing his best team.

This is the first time Rexy will get to start from scratch. When he came into the picture the last two times, the structure was already set, and there was little he could change.

Rexy knows that a lot has changed in the world of badminton and we need someone who is hands-on and knows the latest trend, technology and even the lingo of this generation of players.

We need innovative coaches, who can even come up with new ideas, set new trends, break boundaries and find unique ways of bringing out the best in a player.

While it’s important to have great coaches with the team, I’m sure we all agree with Chong Wei on the role of the shuttlers themselves. Chong Wei said that in order to reap success, 90% is down to the efforts of the athlete.

Our new national No. 1 Leong Jun Hao agrees. Jun Hao said the determination of the player is the key, especially when they are down.

We can have the best coaches but if the players do not play their part, results will not come.

Having a good coach and equally determined and talented players will see Malaysian badminton do well.

Now, that is the scenario we have to imagine - and make it come true.