KUALA LUMPUR: The failure of Malaysia’s singles shuttlers to reach the quarter-finals at the Asia Junior Championships in Solo, Indonesia, came as no surprise to national singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen.
Jonassen said that while the outcome may appear disappointing, it aligned with his expectations going into the recently concluded tournament held at the GOR Indoor Manahan Solo.
“Am I disappointed? Maybe for some individual performances that I thought could have been better. But my expectations were met, so to speak.
“I know where we are. I understand and I fully accept that we have an ambition a lot more than we produced this time,” he told reporters yesterday.
Malaysia ended their campaign at the Asian juniors without a single medal, with both the singles and doubles departments falling short.
This year’s results mark a significant drop from their 2024 performance, when the national junior squad returned with one silver and three bronze medals.
The Dane, who has been working closely with the junior squad over the past several months, said he and his team had identified three key areas for immediate focus moving forward: physicality, tactical discipline and mental resilience.
Although several juniors are currently training with the senior national squad, Jonassen warned against expecting quick results.
“Just because we made some changes, with them now training with the senior team, it’s not that easy. Development doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long process.
“Everybody wants changes all the time. But actually, what you need is to continue down the path you’ve already taken, maybe with a few tweaks, and then you can deliver results eventually,” he said. — Bernama
