Rexy believes Tony’s the best man for mixed doubles coach job

PETALING JAYA: Former Olympic Games champions Rexy Mainaky and Tony Gunawan (pic) were inseparable like brothers since their playing days and the bond had remained intact until today.

This is probably the reason why national doubles coaching director Rexy has confidently proposed Tony to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) as the person well suited to become the national mixed doubles coach.

BAM’s search for former coach Paulus Firman’s replacement began in May when the Indonesian did not seek an extension to his contract and the responsibility was entrusted to Rexy to find the successor.

Tony, 47, is one of the best doubles players produced by Indonesia and won the 2000 Sydney Olympics men’s doubles gold with Candra Wijaya.

He also had success with different partners as he won the 2001 world title in Seville with Halim Hariyanto and the 2005 crown in Anaheim, California, with Howard Bach after switching allegiance to the United States.

Rexy said he had made his proposal and has left it to BAM secretary Datuk Kenny Goh, who is also the coaching and training committee chairman, and high performance director Dr. Tim Jones to make a final call.

“If we can get him (Tony), it will be good because he has a lot of experience as a player who has won Olympics, world, All England titles and some, which he won with different partners. Tony is someone special,” said Rexy.

“Somewhere before July, we were having casual talk as friends and during that chat, I asked if he was interested to come here and he said yes.

“Now it is up to Tim and Datuk Kenny to follow up. I think they probably had conversations but I don’t know the exact progress of the communication between them.

“He is a very disciplined person and works very hard. Let’s see how it goes.”

Winner of more than 50 international titles, Tony had often considered Rexy as his mentor in the Indonesian national senior squad.

He had often looked up to Rexy, who is an Olympic and world champion with Ricky Subagja, as he started charting his own course in becoming one of Indonesia’s most revered men’s doubles players.

Despite their age gap, Tony combined with 54-year-old Rexy briefly in 2000 where they won the Asian Championships title in Jakarta and also helped Indonesia win the Thomas Cup that year as a scratch pair.

Since moving to the US, Tony and his wife Etty Tantry, also a former Indonesian doubles international, have formed Global Badminton Academy in Pomona, California, where he had remained as the head coach.

Rexy believes Tony’s versatility, where he has also played in the mixed doubles while representing the US, is an asset and there is plenty to learn from his playing experience and also his coaching methods.

“We were together since our club days and have known each other for years. I know very well about his discipline in training, his ability and he is a person who does everything in detail,” said Rexy.

“He is a demanding person when he wants to achieve something and he will go all the way until he succeeds.”

The ball is in Kenny and Jones’ court, and if everything goes as planned, Tony may start his duties with the BAM in January.