SO, professional men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia is set to be without a coach again. In November 2022, he parted ways with coach Indra Wijaya and trained on his own for more than half a year before Wong Tat Meng joined him in July last year.
A year and half late, Tat Meng has decided to leave. The big question now is: Who will be the Zii Jia’s new coach?
For sure, it has to be someone who understands him well.
The 57-year-old Tat Meng, who helped the shuttler win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games this year, has been like a father figure to Zii Jia.
But it has not been easy to handle a young blood who is eager to prove himself to the whole world. One can see that Tat Meng has been tactful in order to bring the best out of the 26-year-old.
Now that he is going, there are a few candidates who can guide Zii Jia to bigger success at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Former world champion Hendrawan is one who comes to mind. Hendrawan knows Zii Jia well. The soft-spoken Indonesian was the player’s coach when he was with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
Following the departure of former great Lee Chong Wei in 2019, Hendrawan gave Zii Jia his full attention before the player left the national stable to turn professional in controversial fashion in 2022.
Zii Jia broke into the top 10 in the world for the first time and won the All-England title under Hendrawan. Mulyo Handoyo of Indonesia can also be a good option. Mulyo guided former Olympics champion Taufik Hidayat during his heydays.
Mulyo is good at one-on-one coaching, and this partnership may work.
But more than anyone, I think Datuk Misbun Sidek or Datuk Rashid Sidek will be an apt choice for Zii Jia.
Misbun has coached him during his time in the back-up squad and the Sidek brothers do have the knack of inspiring players.
But we will have to wait and see who Zii Jia’s new coach will be and how much things will change for him.
Meanwhile, there are exciting changes set to take place in several popular sports organisations too.
Former National Sports Council (NSC) supremo Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail’s decision to contest for the Paralympics Council of Malaysia (PCM) top job sounds sweet to the ear.
Shapawi has wealth of experience after serving under the government for more than three decades and has strong network and relationships with different organisations.
His good rapport with people, his compassionate heart, his good leadership skills and ability to solve issues can be an asset.
I just hope that he will get the vote of confidence next week.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will also welcome a new leader after current president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin decided that he would not contest for the post at their election in February next year.
Who will replace Hamidin?
We need someone who is tough enough to make changes and gets the support of the whole team.
Word on the ground is that there is going to be a massive management overhaul to bring back our glory days of football.
Maybe a former player can do a good job as the president.
Former players too can also make a difference in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
There could be changes too at the top when the election takes place next year.
Maybe Datuk Razif Sidek or Datuk Seri Jalani Sidek could be considered. Or even Datuk Lee Chong Wei as BAM president.
New leaders bring changes and hopefully, better results.
It’s time that we do something different and drastic to raise the profile of Malaysian sport to greater heights.
