Jeffer’s expertise makes him a good choice for junior singles head coach

PETALING JAYA: Indonesian Jeffer Rosobin was the man behind Gregoria Mariska’s women’s singles victory at the 2017 world junior championships.

This was one of the reasons that prompted the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to hire Jeffer as the new junior singles head coach.

The appointment came following the void left behind by former junior development director Datuk Misbun Sidek.

Jeffer will replace Misbun and oversee the junior department. Pang Cheh Chang has been appointed as doubles head coach and will report to the Indonesian.

During his playing days, the 47-year-old Jeffer had captured the Asian Championships title in 1996 in Surabaya.

In 2017, Jeffer had guided Gregoria to the world junior title during his stint as women’s singles coach in Indonesia. She has since risen to No. 7 in the world rankings.

Malaysia’s struggles to produce top women’s singles players had prompted the BAM to look to Jeffer for his expertise.

“We had to find a suitable candidate to address the weaknesses within our system,” said Norza.

“Coaching director Rexy Mainaky understands that we are still very much lagging in the women’s singles.

“This new coach will be able to help us improve in this area.

“We had shortlisted a few candidates for the post as singles head coach and had discussions with Rexy.

“Rexy was looking for someone who is most suitable and also capable of working with him.

“With Rexy’s input, we came to this decision to hire Jeffer.”

Jeffer will officially start work on Nov 1.

The coaches under him will be Hazwan Jamaluddin, Goh Giap Chin and Alvin Chew (boys’ singles); Ameer Zainuddin and Misbun Ramdan (girls’ singles).