The Badminton dilemma: Solution?

The World Championship 2011 was a platform for our player to step up their dominance in the Badminton world. However, China continued to reign supreme by sweeping all the categories in the championship.

Led by Lin Dan, China were again the perennial powerhouses in badminton. Malaysia, who had the likes of Ng Boon Bee, Eddy Chong, Punch Gopalan, Yap Kim Hock, Rashid Sidek and Jalani Sidek back in the days have seen a drop of performance this season.

Malaysia were relying on Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and Lee Chong Wei to bag the world championships. However, Datuk Lee faltered in the final game with Lin Dan whereas Tan and Koo lost tamely against South Koreans, Ko Sung hyun and Yoo Yeon Seong in the quarter finals.

Tan and Koo's performance were ridiculed by many quarters as they lost the game in straight sets. Their usual attacking flair and exuberant plays were missing and many were questioning the commitment of both players.

Rexy Mainaky, the man in charge of both of them have been criticised by BAM as they claimed that the training methods were not helping the players development. Rexy hit back by stating that the methods he had used is sufficient enough to improve the players techniques and pace of game.

Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz, Director General for the National Sports Institute, who made an in-depth analysis on Koo-Tan came out with an evidence based analysis and gave a clearer picture on what is happening to the once coveted doubles pair.

To be honest, Lee Chong Wei is close to getting the olympic gold medal as his performance in the final was down to luck but one thing he needs to improve is his mental composure against a lad like Lin Dan.

Koo and Tan erratic perfomances is a concern for many and some have claimed that Rexy's training methods doesn't cut it for the top pair. The back up players that we have could not make the cut internationally and players like Liew Darren and Tan Chun Seang are flops in the making!

Those days, we had a plethora of top players but now, we have can only rely on Chong Wei and the doubles pair. So, what's the solution to all these problems?

BAM certainly need to cooperate with all the badminton associations in Malaysia including the private ones. There are many independant players out there who can make the cut into the national squad. By having a conducive plan to charter the fortunes of malaysian badminton, taking such an initiative would increase the player pool in our country.

Science have played a key role in sports thus, our national set up should have a sports science team to help step up the performance of the players. The right nutrition, discipline, mental training and fitness would help improve the team. Look at Lin Dan, he has the fitness, finesse and mental composure. He has a set of analyst who consult him to improve his performances.

Relying on MSN wouldn't help thus BAM should take an independent approach in conducting such analysis on players' performance. The coaches in our set up should go through a review every year. My question, what has Hendrawan done to improve the performances of singles players?

Look at Tan Chun Sean, Hafiz Hashim and Liew Darren, they have never improved and in 2 years, they can only dominate in satellite tournaments. Now, Vhun Seang and Hafiz have left BAM for greener pastures.

For 2 years, that have been no improvements and countries like Indonesia, Japan and China have a great back up and players like Taufik Hidayat, Lee Hyun Il and Lin Dan will not need to worry as they have younger players who are ready to emulate them.

We can suggest but solutions should come from the body itself. Sponsorship wise, BAM is well nourished but when it comes to player's development, something should be done before the likes or Lee Chong Wei retires!

Avinesh's verdict: Do something, I want to see young players emerging and pressuring the likes of Lin Dan, Chong Wi and old horse, Peter Gade!