Kuala Lumpur: Technical director for the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Morten Frost has admitted to a wide range recent struggles with Malaysian men’s doubles department, while maintaining that he has started an honest rebuilding effort aimed to revive Malaysia’s glory days in men’s doubles.
First on Morten Frost’s agenda was to find a new coach for the men’s doubles department. The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games gold medalist and current Chief Coach of The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) Rexy Mainaky, both 1996 Olympic silver medalists Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock are potential candidates for that position.
“I have to agree that the men’s doubles department is in trouble,” said Frost.
“I can’t reveal the details of the hiring, but we definitely need to find a solution by end of this year,” added Frost.
After Koo Kien Keat had left the Malaysia national team in 2014, BAM also lost five men’s doubles players this year – namely Tan Boon Heong, Hoon Thien How, Lim Khim Wah, Teo Kok Siang and Mak Hee Chun.
With the absence of these players, no BAM men’s doubles players were able to step up and to make an impact on the international stage, including world No. 14 pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong. The Goh/Tan pair was once viewed as one of the Malaysia’s breakout stars in men’s doubles, but their lack of consistent game actions are very worrisome moving forward.
“We are not able to find player like Tan Boon Heong overnight. In order to rebuild, we are going to need to do something about the department right now,” emphasized Frost.
Morten Frost also hopes the new coach could work seamlessly with existing coaches such as Jeremy Gan, Pang Cheh Chang and three other women’s doubles coaches such as Wong Pei Tty, Chin Eei Hui, and Lim Pek Siah to provide support for the doubles department and bring new ideas to the table.
