BAM ON THE HUNT FOR NEW COACHING DIRECTOR

BAM to begin search for new coaching director

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will hire a new coaching director to revive the fortune of Malaysian badminton – and hopefully, they will stick with their decision this time.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) have not set a timeline for the appointment but the new supremo is expected to start by the end of this year as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualification period begins early next year.

Yesterday, BAM coaching and training committee (CNT) chairman Datuk Ng Chin Chai (pic) said they would begin the hunt for a suitable candidate for the hot seat after approval by the BAM council.

It is not the first time the BA of Malaysia have gone back and forth in appointing a supremo.

Denmark’s Morten Frost assumed the position of technical director from 20152017 before leaving in a huff last September. Then, the BAM reverted to appointing five different head coaches.

The current five heads are Datuk Misbun Sidek (men’s singles), Datuk Tey Seu Bock (women’s singles), Paulus Firman (men’s doubles), Rosman Razak (women’s doubles) and Pang Cheh Chang (mixed doubles).

Chin Chai said the roles and responsibilities of the new coaching director would be “different” from Frost’s.

“The appointment of a coaching director is one of the things that we have to do for the national team to move forward,” said Chin Chai after chairing a threehour CNT meeting at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.

“This director has to handle the entire the national squad from the top coaches to junior players on a fulltime basis. His task will be different from Morten.

“We believe the quality of the training programme will be better and more focused by having a coaching director.”

Asked during the meeting on the possible candidates, Chin Chai said: “Few names have cropped up but no one has been identified yet.

“We’ve not drawn up his job scope yet. This matter will be brought up to our council. Hiring a coaching director will not come cheap. We may need to source for funding from the National Sports Council, the National Sports Institute or the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

“We hope to engage him before we begin the Olympic qualifying process,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chin Chai said the CNT committee took full responsibility for the recent failure of the national team at the Indonesia Asian Games but he said the players also failed to perform their duties.

Chin Chai said the shuttlers, including the seniors, could face the chop before the Tokyo Olympics if they continue to underachieve.

“BAM have done a lot for the players. We may even have overpampered the players,” said Chin Chai.

“We’ve given them good facilities, we’ve employed the best coaches and we pay them good allowances and incentives.

“We’ve to draw a line here. When we give the best, we expect the best from the players. If they expect to have a good life without performing, they can leave.

“We expect podium performances from the senior players. They’ve been served with an ultimatum, if they still fail, we will phase them out.”