SEPANG: Men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi has warned the rest of the national squad not to get too comfortable, with further changes also on the cards.
While the focus is currently on the elite pairs, who are being tested with different partners in search of the best combinations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, Herry also wants the younger players to raise their level.
He wants them to show they are capable of progressing beyond International Challenge and International Series tournaments and competing regularly at higher-level events.
“There are plans (to reshuffle) because even if the results are good, if their level remains the same, then it is still the same even when they play in Super 100 tournaments,” said Herry.
“I always look at their individual performances, but we want them to move up to higher-level tournaments.
“We have to see whether they are ready to play in Super 300, 500, 750 or 1000 tournaments. These are all things that I look at.
“Even if you are a champion at Super 100 level, if you have not reached the standard needed to compete at a higher level, then it will be difficult.”
Herry, who recently returned from New Delhi after the World Championships, will also wait for reports on the performances of the national players who competed at the Selangor Malaysia Games (Sukma).
The Indonesian coach said national players representing their respective states should not be losing to players from outside the national set-up, especially when they have the benefit of training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
“I will definitely wait for the reports and, as usual, we will conduct a post-mortem,” said Herry.
“National players should not be losing to players from outside the national set-up. If they lose to another national player, I can still accept that.
“You can see all these things from their daily training. If a player is in the national squad but is lazy in training and does not stay focused, then the results will not be good.”
The badminton competition at the Selangor Sukma ended on Monday, with Federal Territories pair Bryan Jeremy Goonting-Low Han Chen winning the men’s doubles gold after beating state teammates Damien Ling-Ethan Oh in the final.
Johor’s Toh E Hern-Wee Yee Tern took bronze after beating Sarawak’s Darrent Lim-Isyraf Hafizin Ibrahim.
