Badminton coach Rexy Mainaky speaks to media at KLIA 1 on wednesday August 7. (7/8/2024). —AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
PETALING JAYA: National coaching director Rexy Mainaky has apologised after the badminton squad fell short of their gold medal target at the Paris Olympics, but the Indonesian has no plans to leave Malaysia.
Instead, he wants to make things right in four years’ time.
Rexy, who arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 (KLIA) yesterday, said the thought of leaving the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has not crossed his mind.
“I don’t have plans to go anywhere. I still have responsibilities to BAM and I have a home here too. If my contract with BAM is up and they want to extend it, I will stay,” said Rexy.
The Malaysian badminton squad brought home two bronze medals from Paris courtesy of men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia and doubles duo Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, but Rexy said the focus was already on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
He admitted that he was disappointed that the team did not reach their golden target, but had no complaints on the shuttlers’ performances.
“As a coach, I apologise that we did not reach the target, but I am happy with how our athletes performed.
“We have to start from now to prepare for the next Olympics. The things that we did right in Paris, we will continue, and improve on aspects that were lacking,” he said.
Rexy added that the Malaysian shuttlers’ performance was not far from the other gold medal-winning countries, but minor factors played a big role on the Olympic stage.
“We need to be smarter when it comes down to the crucial points. We need to analyse the mistakes collectively and find a solution when a problem is identified.
“The gap between us and other countries is small, so we need to find a way to close that gap. We need to look at teams like China, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan and learn how they strategise, and add that to our programme,” he said.
Besides the medal winners, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah also created history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach an Olympic semi-final. The mixed doubles pair of Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei, who made their debut in Paris, also performed well in their group although their journey ended in the quarter-finals.
