Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian badminton legend Misbun Sidek’s return to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) as national singles head coach has been widely welcomed by badminton community in Malaysia.
For those who are not familiar with Misbun Sidek or his background, let BadmintonPlanet.com bring to you some facts about the former No. 1 men’s singles player in Malaysia:
1. Misbun Sidek was born on February 17, 1960, in Banting, Selangor to Dato’ Sidek Abdullah Kamar (father). He is the eldest of the famous five Sidek brothers.
2. The Sidek brothers – Misbun, Razif, Jalani, Rahman and Rashid, all world class badminton players during 1980s and 1990s, played a huge role in taking Malaysia out of the doldrums in world badminton, helping Malaysia regained the Thomas Cup in 1992 after a lapse of 25 years.
3. Misbun was trained by his father at the age of seven, and was selected to play at the Asian Invitational Championships in Hong Kong at the age of 16. He was also selected to join Malaysia’s Thomas Cup training squad when he was 18-years-old.
4. Misbun Sidek had one of the best fast drop shots or a.k.a “chop” of his time. Misbun’s chop, Ardy Wiranta’s defence, Yang Yang’s net play, Zhao Jianhua’s deception and Lim Siew King’s jumping smash were considered some of the best offensive shots during the 1980s and the 1990s.
5. He won his first international title at the 1981 German Open.
6. He knows what it takes to be a coach because he used to train himself when he was a player. In 1982, Misbun was embroiled with a quarreled with his head coach Tan Yee Khan. Misbun was not happy with Tan’s coaching method and he went out of the training camp to train alone.
7. In 1982 World Cup, Misbun showed off his stout defence, deceptive writs play, delayed strokes that catches opponents of guard and his cross court half smash. After defeating Lius Pongoh, Morten Frost, and Prakash Padukone, Misbun was set to play Liem Swie King of Indonesia in the final. However, Misbun exposed all his weaknesses during the final, such as lack of stamina and inability to handle pressure. He suffered a disappointment after failing to clinch the Badminton World Cup title by squandering a 10-1 third-set lead over Liem Swie King.
8. Misbun decided to retire from international competition at the age of 29 in 1989.
9. After retiring, Misbun acted as an assistant coach of the Malaysian national team before venturing into the car business.
Misbun was on the coaching staff, and his youngest brother Rashid Sidek played first singles, for the 1992 Malaysia team which captured the Thomas Cup after a 25 year drought.
10. Misbun become the Badminton Malaysia Association (BAM) men’s singles coach from 2002 until 2011, and was responsible of grooming Lee Chong Wei to become a world class player.
