PETALING JAYA: Mindset can be the biggest hurdle but once overcome, the sky is truly the limit.
While the Malaysian doubles hogged the limelight after a successful French Open, the singles department told a different story.
In the space of two weeks, sole national representative Leong Jun Hao, 27, suffered first round exits at both the Denmark and French Opens, further highlighting Malaysia’s struggles to establish a consistent presence in the later stages of major singles competitions.
The contrast was particularly evident in the emergence of Indonesia’s 19-year-old Moh Zaki Ubaidillah, who reached the French Open final despite entering the tournament ranked world No. 28.
Ubaidillah stunned world No. 6 and teammate Jonatan Christie and world No. 5 and reigning world champion Alex Lanier of France on his way to the final before going down 11-21, 21-14, 13-21 to 24-year-old Christo Popov of France, who is set to officially become world No. 1 player today.
National badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek believes the gap between Malaysia and their regional rivals is a matter of mindset.
"The main difference is the mentality," said Rashid.
"In terms of talent and facilities we are on par if not better than Indonesia, but there is always something lacking when our players graduate from the junior level."
For Rashid, Ubaidillah’s fearless approach is precisely what Malaysian players must learn to emulate.
"Take the Indonesian youngster (Ubaidillah) for example. You look at him you already know his attitude. He isn’t afraid of anyone no matter how high their ranking.
"Whether the person in front of him is the world No. 1 or the world champion, he still plays the same way."
Ubaidillah is not the only young Asian player making significant strides on the international stage.
Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan, ranked world No. 10, Thailand’s Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul (No. 18) and India’s Ayush Shetty (No. 20) have also established themselves among the world’s top 32.
In comparison, Jun Hao remains Malaysia’s highest-ranked men’s singles player at world No. 31 and the only one inside the top 32, while Justin Hoh, 22, and Eogene Ewe, 21, trail in 46th and 89th positions respectively.
With Jun Hao Malaysia’s leading hope of reaching the season-ending World Tour Finals, the lack of progress among the country’s younger singles players remains a pressing concern.
"Other players are always faster and attacking from the start of the match but the Malaysians tend to take a slower approach especially at the start.
"This won’t work in high-level tournaments like the French Open.
Rashid, however, is convinced that Malaysian shuttlers already possess the necessary qualities to challenge the elite but just need a little nudge.
"They’re not brave enough. In terms of technique, quality and their skills they have it all. But they’re not brave enough to push themselves."
"Something needs to be done so that they start giving 100 percent every game. Right now they’re stuck at 80 percent. Once that block clears, we can be on par with the best in no time."
