National junior head coach Jeffer Rosobin
PETALING JAYA: Indonesian Jeffer Rosobin (pic) is keen to replicate his success as junior coach in his home country in Malaysia.
Jeffer, who guided Gregoria Mariska to the girls’ singles world junior title in 2017, was also coaching the singles department when Indonesia created history by lifting the mixed team gold for the first time two years later.
Jeffer, who was appointed junior head coach by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last November to fill the void left behind by Datuk Misbun Sidek, is out to continue his good work.
The 48-year-old faces a steeper challenge as no Malaysian has won the world title since Goh Jin Wei emerged champion in the girls’ singles in 2018.
In the Asian Junior Championships, 2017 boys’ singles winner Leong Jun Hao was the last to lift the title.
However, Jeffer remains undaunted and is determined to bring back the glory days for Malaysia in the major junior events.
“I want to do well in Malaysia after enjoying success in Indonesia,” said Jeffer.
“Honestly, the standard between the junior players here is not too far from those in Indonesia.
“There are many players here who have good potential. They just need to be more confident and improve on certain aspects.”
Jeffer’s first major assignment will be the Asian Junior meet from June 28-July 7 in Bali.
“We have about six months until the Asian Juniors and we have to maximise the time we have to prepare well,” said Jeffer.
“The tournaments in the next few months leading up to the Asiad will be crucial.
“I will evaluate the players’ performances in the next few competitions to see where they need to improve further on.”
The likes of Mohd Faiq Masawi (men’s singles), Ong Xin Yee and Siti Zulaikha Azmi’s (women’s singles) first tournament of the year will be the Sri Lankan International Challenge from Feb 5-11.
The trio will also see action in the Dutch Junior International (Feb 28-March 3) and the German Junior International (March 6-10).
