PETALING JAYA: Former greats Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Lin Dan of China should be wearing a huge smile to see their junior singles shuttlers stepping up but Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei has been left frowning again.
The rise of Indonesian Alwi Farhan and Hu Zhean of China have brought back good memories of the days of their role models Taufik and Lin Dan respectively.
In the recent Asia Mixed Team Championships in Qingdao, China, Alwi defeated Hu Zhean in a battle between world junior champions and Indonesia eventually defeated China 3-2 for the title to show that they can still stand tall despite fielding their second best team.
The 19-year-old Alwi won the world junior title in 2023 while the 18-year-old Hu Zhean showed his prowess in the same edition last year.
Alwi, who was fielded in the absence of their stars Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie, was impressive as he did not drop a single game in the tournament.
The lanky shuttler from Solo was proud of the victory.
“Indonesia are showing their character again in the international stage. I’ve won all my matches, thanks to the support of the team, coaches and my parents,” said Alwi.
It has been some time too that Indonesia had been struggling to win team title and now, with a new coaching line-up and with some massive revamp, they will be looking forward to making their mark at the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China from April 27-May 4.
Malaysia however continue to look in envy as they showed they still lacked depth in the mixed team.
While the 25-year-old Leong Jun Hao did save Malaysia the blushes in winning a point against Indonesia’s Yohanes Saut in the group stage, Malaysia eventually lost 2-3 to the eventual winners and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Jun Hao is showing marked progress but it does not hide the fact that Malaysia still lack young stars like Alwi and Hu Zhean in their stable.
Justin Hoh and Eogene Ewe have the talents but they need quick exposure to climb up the ladder.
It’s good news that Ng Tze Yong is set to make a comeback next month after staying away for a year, but it will take a lot of effort from him to pick up where he left off and fight his way to the top 10 standing in the world.
Hopefully, with time, singles head coach Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark, together with men’s singles coaches K. Yogendran and Alvin Chiew will be able to produce a few new faces to spice up the men’s singles competition.
