Goodbye and thank you, Datuk Eddy Choong

THE Malaysia sporting community has lost another illustrious badminton legend Datuk Eddy Choong at the age of 82.

News of his death came as a shock to many of his avid fans locally and overseas.

We are still mourning the loss of another badminton great Datuk Punch Gunalan and this is hard to take with Eddy Choong’s sudden demise.

Eddy Choong ( pic) was an inspirational player and coach to many of the present generation of our national players.

He was one of the most successful badminton legends winning over 500 titles here and around the world.

He was also the coach of Misbun Sidek and 20 other world champions.

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) inducted him as the first sportsman to the Hall of Fame in 1995.

He was also included in the Badminton Hall of Fame in 1997 by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) which also bestowed on him a special honour of Player of the Year.

Eddy Choong was considered a magician on the court despite his lack of height because he could drive the shuttlecock at any designated spot and hit the bulls eye.

He was also noted for his quickness, tenacity and abundant stamina, important ingredients for any sportsman.

Eddy Choong won the men’s singles at the All England Open Badminton Championships four times between 1953 and 1957 when it was considered the unofficial world championship.

He also reached the All-England singles final in 1952 and 1955 and won the men’s doubles with his brother, the late David Choong in 1951, 1952, and 1953.

He was a member of the 1955 Malayan Thomas Cup team which retained the world team championship.

Eddy Choong’s death is a great loss to our nation.

Many of the nations badminton greats from the 50’s-70’s, apart from the late Wong Peng Soon and Ong Poh Lim other star badminton players like Teh Kew San, Tan Aik Huang, Datuk Tan Yee Khan, Datuk Ng Boon Bee, Datuk Rosalind Singa Ang and Sylvia Ng who contributed immensely to the nation must be treasured and rewarded for their invaluable service while they are living.

Goodbye and thank you, Datuk Eddy Choong. C. SATHASIVAM SITHERAVELLU Seremban