Rexy admits gap in mixed doubles as there’re no pairs pushing Chen-Toh
PETALING JAYA: The national badminton camp are beginning to feel the lack of depth in the mixed doubles department.
The concern was raised by national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky following world champions Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei’s shock quarter-final defeat to China’s Gao Jiaxuan-Wei Yaxin at the Malaysian Masters, where they lost 18-21, 16-21.
Beyond Tang Jie-Ee Wei, there are no pairs in the national squad who can truly push the world champions.
Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Hui were only recently paired up after Hoo Pang Ron left the national team last month, but they too crashed out in the first round after losing to Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje.
As such, Rexy said one of his priorities moving forward, together with mixed doubles head coach Nova Widianto, is to strengthen the department and build greater depth in the national squad.
“I admit that there is a gap. We only see Tang Jie-Ee Wei but below them, there are no players,” said Rexy.
“Right now we see Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan playing in two events, and below that we still have Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah-Clarissa Tan. Between Tang Jie-Ee Wei and them, there is an empty space, a gap that has not been filled by anyone.
“So this is homework in the mixed doubles, not only for Nova but for me as well on how we can address that gap.’’
What concerns Rexy even more is that several players who have been in the mixed doubles set-up for some time are still struggling to deliver results in lower-tier tournaments such as the International Challenge and International Series.
“We can see from the back-up pairs in mixed doubles that some of them are still at the International Challenge level and have yet to make a breakthrough.
‘’But those below them, such as Datu-Clarissa, Wee Yee Tern-Tang Zhing Hui, and Vanee Gobi with her partner, have actually shown better performances, with some reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals. That shows they are progressing well,” he added.
