Badminton: BAM defend decision to keep Rexy following Asian Junior flop

PETALING JAYA: National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky’s (pic) job was spared as he had only taken over the junior squad five months ago.

This is the response from Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after recently ousted national junior development director Datuk Misbun Sidek said that he should not be the only one to be blamed for the poor results of the junior squad in the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta last month.

Misbun was frustrated at being made the scapegoat for the junior team’s failure when the doubles squad also flopped.

Only men’s doubles pair Bryan Goonting-Low Han Chen managed to reach the quarter-finals, which is considered a huge failure as Malaysia have always gone beyond the quarters.

Misbun also refuted the national body’s statement that he had agreed to leave on a mutual agreement.

Instead, Misbun claimed in a press conference on Monday that he had been asked to leave his position after six years following the Asian junior meet results.

Outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) Michelle Chai, who is set to remain at BAM as administration director, justified their decision. “Yes, it’s true that the doubles players also did not do well,” said Michelle when met at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.

“But doubles coaching director Rexy only took charge of the juniors five months ago. It’s too early (to assess his coaching).”

She insisted that the decision to part ways with Misbun was not made lightly.

“It was not an easy decision,” said Michelle.

“The special task force appointed (to analyse the performance of the juniors) obtained feedback from the players and other coaches before making this decision.

“We just want to move on from this.”

Meanwhile, BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria is set to address the issue of Misbun’s sacking in a press conference today.

BAM’s decision is not ideal with the World Junior Championships (Sept 25-Oct 8) coming up in the United States.

The junior players set to compete in the world meet have been arranged to train with the seniors.

Rexy will oversee the doubles players while Hendrawan, Datuk Tey Seu Bock and James Chua will take charge of the singles team.

The coaches will have a tough task of improving the juniors after they had returned empty-handed from the world meet last October in Santander, Spain.

The task will only be made harder as the seniors also need lots of guidance with the World Championships (Aug 21-28) in Copenhagen, Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics heating up.