PETALING JAYA: The national women’s singles shuttlers need to work three times harder if they hope to succeed.
This is the advice given by coach Jeffer Rosobin after his surprise decision to leave the Badminton Association Malaysia (BAM).
“Malaysia are far behind in the women’s singles compared to the other events,” said Jeffer.
“The players are not lacking in terms of skills but they need to work three times harder than the other departments to catch up.
“Initially, I wanted to leave after the World Junior Championships last October but I decided to stay on and take up the new challenge of improving the women’s singles.”
The Indonesian joined the national body as the head coach for the junior squad in November 2023 and was promoted to senior women’s singles coach a year later.
Jeffer though has decided to leave his position just four months after his promotion.
“I believe the time is right for me to leave now. I want to spend time with my family and manage my academy in Jakarta,” said Jeffer.
“I want to thank BAM and national coaching director Rexy (Mainaky) for giving me this opportunity.
“If the chance comes again, I might think about returning to BAM.
“Some of the players like K. Letshanaa and Siti Zulaikha (Azmi) achieved some breakthroughs under me and I’m happy with the work I have done with them and the juniors.
“I wish the players all the best in their futures and I hope they keep developing well.”
Under Jeffer, Letshanaa reached a World Tour Super 100 final for the first time when she finished runners-up to homester Ni Kadek Dhinda in the Indonesian Masters last November.
The 49-year-old also guided Zulaikha to her first senior title when she won the Malaysian International Series.
In the junior team, Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing memorably captured gold in the boys’ doubles and Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu won silver in the girls’ doubles in the world junior meet.
Aaron-Khai Xing also claimed silver while Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (girls’ doubles) and Zulaikha won bronze in the Asian Juniors.
Malaysia also won bronze in the mixed team event in both the world and Asian Junior meets.
