KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of new coaches involving Datuk Tey Seu Bock, Yeoh Kay Bin and Mohd Zakry Latif remains up in the air after the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) made no official announcement at yesterday’s council meeting.
However, BAM president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has given the green light for the performance committee chairman, Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei to take charge of the national squad’s coaching matters.
Together with singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen and doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky, they will now oversee the new coaching structure, training programmes, and the appointment of new coaches.
Zafrul added that new appointments no longer need to be discussed in detail at council meetings and can be approved at the committee level before being reported to the council.
“They need to inform the council. But once the performance committee approve, there should be no problem. We have to trust the expertise of both the coaching directors and Chong Wei,” said Zafrul.
Zafrul also said that Seu Bock is almost certain to return to his previous role as the men’s singles coach.
Many had expected the proposal for the appointment of the new coaches to be discussed and finalised at the BAM council meeting held yesterday, but it was not tabled.
However, Seu Bock, who previously headed the junior singles squad, appears to have already begun his new role as coach of the senior men’s singles team after he was seen courtside alongside Leong Jun Hao during the Malaysian Open at the Axiata Arena this week.
Apart from Kay Bin and Zakry, it is also understood that another foreign coach is on the radar to assist the women’s doubles squad.
Although no new coaching appointments were announced, the BAM council did discuss a review of local coaches’ salaries.
“We agreed that the salaries of local coaches should be reassessed based on performance and other relevant criteria to determine if an increase is warranted.
“The consensus is that this is an issue that needs careful evaluation,” he added.
