PETALING JAYA: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have given the green light to doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky to formally approach and finalise the appointment of a mixed doubles coach.
BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, after chairing the council meeting at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia ABM in Bukit Kiara yesterday, wants it to be done as soon as possible.
The mixed doubles department has been under assistant coach Teo Kok Siang since the departure of Indonesian Paulus Firman at the end of April.
Independent coach Chin Eei Hui was initially the prime candidate but Lim Pek Siah, currently Singapore’s mixed doubles trainer, has also joined in the race.
“The budget (requested by high performance director Tim Jones) was not discussed but we stated to Rexy that there is a budget allocated for that purpose. We have communicated to Rexy to get the mixed doubles coach as soon as possible.
“We have given the green light to Rexy to identify whichever candidate that is suitable and will not interfere in his appointment.
“I think he is still searching for the candidate.”
However, Rexy has shifted the responsibility back to high performance director Dr Tim Jones.
“About the selection of the mixed doubles coach, I leave to Dr Tim, we have already discussed it and I will let him deal with them,” said Rexy.
Meanwhile, Jones was happy the top management have given their blessings.
He believes Rexy would be able to get the right candidate, be it Eei Hui or Pek Siah.
“It’s good to get the go ahead and to know the finance behind it. So now, it’s up to Rexy to speak to the coaches and work out who he thinks is the best bet,” said Jones.
“I think Rexy was under a lot of pressure due to the Commonwealth Games and now that it’s over, he will have a clear mind to decide on the mixed doubles coach.
“I think we get them into the position after the World Championships. It depends, if they have to serve notice regarding their current role. If they have one, their start position will be down to that. If we can get a decision as soon as possible, we will be happy.
“Eei Hui and Pek Siah have their own strengths and have worked in BAM before. Eei Hui has experience working with different groups while Pek Siah has been doing well in Singapore but she may also want to return home.”
Pek Siah is said to have a contract with Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) until the end of the year and if Jones’ comments are anything to go by, that could tilt the scale in her favour.
However, BAM’s insistence on having the coach fast would mean that Eei Hui would be bale to join the fray as long as she gets the blessings of her current sponsors Li-Ning to return to BAM.
BAM had also approved a budget of US$20,000 (RM89,000) for sport science where a new athletes management system will be established.
“It will be used to store all the data ranging from players’ physical (performance) and psychological results placed under one system. If you want to analyse the players’ progress and KPIs (key performance indicators), we have all the information in hand. Now held by different people, everything will be in one place,” said Jones.
