PETALING JAYA: It has only been four months, but Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin has already managed to lift the performances of the women’s singles players, who were previously labelled as the weakest department in the national squad.
Women’s singles shuttler Wong Ling Ching, one of the players who has shown improvement under Iskandar, said the new coach has transformed the atmosphere in the women’s singles training sessions into a more positive environment that is well received by all the players.
More importantly, Iskandar, who was known for his fighting spirit on court during his playing days, has instilled the same mentality in his charges, motivating them to battle alongside him.
Ling Ching and compatriot K. Letshanaa delivered encouraging performances at the Thailand Masters two weeks ago, with Ling Ching reaching the semi-finals before going down to Goh Jin Wei.
Letshanaa also showed progress.
Although she lost to Jin Wei in the quarter-finals, there were clear improvements in her game.
A week earlier, she had stunned world No. 11 Michelle Li of Canada in the second round of the Indonesian Masters and advanced to the semi-finals before falling to Thailand’s Pitchamon Opatniputh.
“In fact, it is not just Letshanaa and me. The whole women’s singles team have shown improvement. The training environment is better now and the quality of training has also improved.
“Coach Iskandar is a fighter. When the coach himself shows that kind of spirit, the players have to follow. That is what makes our training sessions more spirited,” said Ling Ching.
Iskandar, who previously coached the Irish national team, returned to the Badminton Association of Malaysia on Oct 1 to fill the vacancy left by Jeffer Rosobin.
However, Ling Ching admitted that her performance at the recent Asia Team Championships was below expectations and that she is still not personally satisfied with her display on court.
As such, following discussions with Iskandar and national singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen, Ling Ching will spend the next few weeks going back to basics to rebuild her fundamentals.
“I feel that in the tournaments this year, I have not reached the level that I want. I have learned many new things and perhaps my fundamentals were slightly affected, which caused my consistency to drop. The coaches have advised me to refocus on consistency,” she added.
Ling Ching is scheduled to compete in the German Open from Feb 24-March 1, followed by the Swiss Open from March 10-15 and the Orleans Masters from March 17-22.
