Kuala Lumpur: Misbun Sidek and Lee Chong Wei have strong coach-athlete relationships. But, more importantly, their legacy together, represent the past, present and future of badminton in Malaysia.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) President Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria spoke to reporters at the Aidilfitri ‘open house’ on Thursday that he hoped the 57-year-old Misbun Sidek together with Lee Chong Wei’s experience could help identifying and shaping young Malaysian badminton talent.
“I have full confidence that both of them could produce the best men’s singles players after Chong Wei retires one day,” said Zakaria.
“Chong Wei and Misbun are so close that, although Misbun is almost seven years away from BAM’s fold, he is able to identify the strength and weaknesses of all our existing players quickly as Chong Wei is able to provide insider information on our players,” added Zakaria.
Zakaria also noted BAM would give Misbun the green light should he intend to accompany Lee Chong Wei to the World Badminton Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, although the World meet is overlapping with the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (KL2017).
Nevertheless, he would advise Misbun Sidek to make proper arrangements with other coaches such as Hendrawan, Indra Wijaya and Sairul Amar Ayob to make sure other coaches would be able to execute clearly on their assigned tasks and responsibilities.
“We understand Chong Wei is on a mission to win his first World title, since Malaysia will be the hosting the KL2017, the SEA Games is equally important as well. We should achieve the same or better results compare to the Singapore SEA Games two years ago.”
