PETALING JAYA: Former coaches Wong Tat Meng and Ng Mee Fen have called for an honest review into the shuttlers’ poor performance at the Asian Junior Championships in Solo, Indonesia.
Malaysia came home empty-handed from the tournament which ended on Sunday, a repeat of their 2023 edition in Yogyakarta.
Tat Meng, who was singles coach in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) from 2003 to 2011 and 2013 to 2016 and Mee Fen, who was a junior coach in the national team for four years, expressed their concern via social media over the disappointing outing, especially in the singles. None of the players in the boys’ and girls’ singles even made it to the quarter-finals in the individual event.
“Am I the only one who wonders what happened to our junior players’ performance in the Asian Junior meet in Solo?” questioned Mee Fen.
“It’s worrisome especially in the singles department. Most of our current senior players can play for another Olympic cycle but we have yet to identify the junior players who can replace the seniors in five years’ time.
“Challenging times ahead for the juniors and hopefully actions will be taken to improve the standard of the players before it’s too late.”
Tat Meng, who responded to Mee Fen’s post, said: “Thanks for raising this. You’re definitely not the only one concerned.
“I’m actually here in Solo watching the Asian Junior meet and I have to say, it was disappointing and quite sad to see that none of our singles players made it to the quarter-finals.
“Even though I’m no longer based in Malaysia, I still care deeply, especially having been part of the national coaching set-up in the past.
“It really makes me question what has been going wrong with our junior development system for the past how many years? I don’t know.
“We have talent, no doubt, but something fundamental isn’t translating into results at the international level.
“It’s time for an honest review and a clear long-term direction. Otherwise, we risk an even more serious gap in our singles department moving forward,” added Tat Meng.
Siti Zulaikha Azmi offered the one bright spot for the girls’ singles when she won bronze in last year’s Asian Juniors but the last boys’ singles medallist for Malaysia was Leong Jun Hao, who captured gold in 2017.
In the girls’ singles, Goh Jin Wei was the last Malaysian to win a medal when she triumphed in 2018.
