PETALING JAYA: Before departing for the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, national shot putter Jonah Chang Rigan renewed calls for sporting authorities to finalise a contract for his personal coach, Frantisek Petrovic.
The 23-year-old Sarawakian, who will make his Asian Games debut in the event, urged either the National Sports Council (NSC) or Malaysia Athletics (MA) to formalise Petrovic's role - pointing out that the coach, affectionately known as "coach Frank", has trained several national throwers without official recognition or pay.
"There are absolutely no issues with coach Frank. The only issue right now is getting him a contract as a developmental coach," said Jonah before boarding the flight to Japan.
"How many times have they said they want a new coach, but where is it? Nothing at all. Broken promises."
Jonah explained that he continues to train under Petrovic in Malaysia while completing his university studies at Universiti Malaya, even as teammate Irfan Shamsuddin travels with a different coach Robert Fazekas for overseas assignments and training.
In the absence of institutional support, Jonah said he has had to seek his own sponsors to fund Petrovic's involvement.
"I still need my coach for my development. Training with him isn't too hard - training goes on as usual, and he even pays for his own meals and expenses," he said.
"Yet he still has the heart to train all the youth to produce new developmental athletes for the SEA Games.
"In the Asian Games, Fazekas will be there but not coach Frank but I will communicate via Whatsapp."
Looking ahead, Jonah suggested he may eventually step back from SEA Games competition to focus solely on the Asian Games, allowing a new generation of throwers to take his place.
"After Irfan, who is next? After me, who is next? After Jackie (Wong Siew Cheer), who is next? After Grace (Wong Xiu Mei), who?" he said.
"That is what we need to build a new legacy. But to build a legacy, we must have a developmental coach first. We can always search for an elite coach, but who will train the developmental athletes?"
Jonah tempered expectations for his maiden Asian Games appearance, having only recently recovered from an ankle injury.
"It's about gaining experience. I don't expect too much because there will be many more experienced throwers there," he said, adding that his target is a season's best of 19m, with a national record also within reach.
He currently holds the national record of 19.12m, which he set at the Qosimov Memorial in Kazakhstan in June.
Beyond the shot put circle, Jonah, who is a self-professed foodie making his first trip to Japan, said he was also looking forward to experiencing the country's culture.
Known for his trademark "No pork, no power" victory line, Jonah was in high spirits about the trip, quipping that Japan's cuisine would keep him well fed.
"Japan has a lot of pork and that is good. Even NSI jokingly said I will be a happy man," he said, referring to the National Sports Institute.
Jonah will compete only in the shot put at the Games, where he expects tough competition from rivals in India, China and Taiwan whom he has previously faced at the Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo and the Taiwan Open.
