Frost bites back

KUALA LUMPUR: Morten Frost insists that his decision to leave the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has nothing to do with the national shuttlers’ lack of results on the international stage this year.

“I don’t think it’s been a failure,” said the 59-year-old, who tendered his resignation as the BAM technical director on Sept 11.

“My reason for leaving is personal. Let’s leave it at that.

“It has nothing to do with the results of 2017. I don’t view it in the same way as others do.

“I view it as a sport and not a car engine where you can tighten the screw and then try to drive it at 250mph. It’s not how it works.

“It’s about the DNA, it’s about people, it’s a process.”

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria had deemed Malaysia’s inability to finish in the top four at the Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia, in May as a failure.

Norza was also unhappy that Malaysia failed to meet the two-gold medal target at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and when none of the Malaysians managed to even make the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Glasgow last month.

But to be fair to Frost, Norza did say that he took the failures upon himself.

Overall, Frost was happy with his 2½-year stint in Malaysia.

“We had a fantastic 2016. We won three silver medals in the Rio Olympics,” said Frost.

“At one stage, we had a world No. 1 in men’s singles (Lee Chong Wei), world No. 1 in men’s doubles (Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong) and world No. 3 in mixed doubles ( Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying).

“Our men’s team moved from the top 10 to top five in the world standings.

“I also don’t consider the Sudirman Cup as a failure. I think our players did well at the SEA Games. The men’s doubles fared badly at the world meet but we’ve addressed that. They’ve been split up and they’ll be tried out with new partners.

“It was a difficult decision. I like it here. I’ve done my best and I have no regrets.”

Asked whether he had met Norza since he tendered his resignation, Frost said: “I have no comments.”

Asked if he was leaving because of his soured relationship with Chong Wei, he replied: “I have no comments.”

Asked whether he was given full mandate to run the show the technical director, he said: “I have no comments.”

“I'm leaving on amicable terms. I’ve given six months’ notice and I’m waiting to discuss some other details. I have no comments on policy or personal questions — it’s not going to bring anything good,” said the Dane.

One of Frost’s Key Performance Index (KPI) for next year was to regain the Thomas Cup.

Asked if Malaysia could still do it in his absence, he said: “Why not? We have good players. The new men’s doubles pair have time to catch up. Anything can happen in team events.

“We always have to go with the belief that we can win. I’m positive — that’s in my nature. It’s been instilled in me since I was young.”

Frost said that he had not decided on his future plans but he would still be involved in badminton.

“I’ll take a break for now but I’m open to offers. I’m prepared to talk. I love badminton — and no one can take that away from me,” he said.