Cheng Huat quits national team

THE Malaysian Basketball Association (Maba) are looking for a new coach for the men’s national team after Goh Cheng Huat quit with just a month remaining on his contract.

Cheng Huat, who could only steer Malaysia to fifth place at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August, opted to leave early to coach Melaka at the Agong’s Cup this month.

Because of a rule preventing a national coach from coaching a state team, Cheng Huat decided to end his association with the national team before the end of his contract.

“I felt it was time for me to try other things,” said Cheng Huat.

“Since the Sea Games ended, there was nothing much going on and when I received an offer from Melaka, I decided to take it.”

Following his appointment in May 2016, Cheng Huat compiled a 6-9 record in three regional tournaments — the 2016 Seaba Stankovic Cup, the 2017 Seaba Championship and the Sea Games.

The performance at the Sea Games on home soil was especially disappointing for Cheng Huat.

“The Sea Games is one of the reasons I decided to leave,” he said. “It was a major assignment for the national team where everyone was expecting us to deliver a medal. But we were not good enough and now we have to move on.”

Maba general manager Ken Yap said a temporary coach will be put in place to guide the national team at an invitational tournament in Jakarta next February.

“We will appoint a coach on an ad-hoc basis until we can identify someone to take on the job longterm,” said Ken. “The Maba executive committee will decide in January the coach who will handle the team temporarily.” Devinder Singh