Zhanrong’s position under threat after women’s dismal outing

PETALING JAYA: The writing is on the wall for women’s singles coach Chi Zhanrong following the inconsistent performances of his charges at the Uber Cup qualifying tournament in Macau.

Except for one good showing each by Tee Jing Yi and Yang Li Lian (pic), the women’s singles were unable to complement the more successful doubles pairs. That saw Malaysia finishing eighth and missing out on a place in the Finals in Wuhan in May.

Debutant Jing Yi’s only success came when she upset Singapore’s Gu Juan in their final group playoff match while Li Lian was the heroine of the team against India when she clinched the winning point for a 3-2 win in Group A.

Lydia Cheah and Sannatasah Saniru struggled throughout the competition, failing to register a single win.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) should consider replacing Zhanrong with a coach who can whip the players into shape. The talent is there but the potential remains unfulfilled.

There are a few options that BAM could look into. They could either promote Woon Sze Mei or even former international Wong Mew Choo to head the team. In China, former Olympic champion Zhang Ning has been tasked to helm the women’s team and is doing a great job.

Or BAM could entice several former internationals like Wong Choong Hann or Bao Chunlai of China. Both have retired from the national team and are involved in the business of training youngsters.

They could also try offering lucrative deals to get back Li Mao of China and Wong Tat Meng, who are currently doing quite well as coaches with the Indonesian team.

When asked about the possibility of changing the women’s singles coach, BAM general manager Kenny Goh refused to comment, saying it was something for the High Performance Team (HPT) to look into.

“I admit that we lack depth in the women’s singles. The HPT will have to look at the reports from the coaches and team manager and decide what needs to be done,” said Kenny.