KUALA LUMPUR – “Outdated” and “backward” were the words former national shuttler Ong Ewe Hock used to describe the state of Malaysia’s current badminton scene.
After a disappointing Thomas Cup and Uber Cup outing for the national teams in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this month, Malaysia is evidently no longer a powerhouse in the sport.
This has irked Ong, who called for the entire Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) management to take responsibility for this debacle and step down.
Speaking to The Vibes, Ong said that Malaysia is outdated, and other countries have overtaken the national team.
Having a decorated badminton career himself, Ong could not believe what is happening to Malaysian badminton, as he was of the opinion that the sport is on the verge of going into the doldrums.
We are not even stagnant; we are already a backward country in badminton. Look at Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Japan, and now India, on how strong they have become.
“Denmark has two singles players in the top 10 world rankings. Indonesia has two. Malaysia, once a powerhouse, only has Lee Zii Jia in fifth place, and he is not even a BAM player.
“Who is to be blamed for this? Not entirely the players’ fault, as BAM should take full responsibility and have the entire management step down, giving opportunities to the rest to try to do something about the current situation.
“Clearly something is not working for the last few years, then why is it the same people who are managing BAM? How to improve when some have been there for the last 20 to 30 years?”
Ong said former players should go in now and manage BAM and be given a two-year or three-year term to improve things.
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At the same time, he added that the player selection committee needs to comprise independent members so that there will not be any bias in selection.
“There are many good players playing for the clubs but are not selected to play for the country. Why is that?
“If you had watched the Malaysia vs India match, our third singles team is not in the same league as Prannoy H.S.
“How could you field a player without any experience to play the deciding match?
He said BAM should start working closely with the clubs, as there are many good players playing for the clubs and waiting for an opportunity to play for the country.
“Taiwan has a good system where every January and July, they will have a ranking competition to determine who represents the country. The players in the top 20 world ranking will not participate as this competition is for the junior players to rank themselves and play for the country.
“These players are all from the clubs.
The junior players need to prove themselves and those selected have the option to train in a centralised training program or train on their own. Those selected will be funded by the national association,” said Ong, who was the 1998 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
The three-time Thomas Cup runner-up said something drastic has to be done immediately to make sure Malaysian badminton does not fall further behind.
Even in the SEA Games, Thailand beat Malaysia 3-0 in the finals of the team event, but as a whole, the BAM achieved its target of 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze, which was dismal compared to the games in the Philippines in 2019, when Malaysia won 3 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals.
“SEA Games used to be comparatively easy for us at one point. Only Indonesia posed a threat to us, but now, we lose to countries like Thailand and Singapore. It is sad.
“I always get criticised for speaking out, but someone needs to do it,” the 2001 SEA Games gold medallist concluded. – The Vibes, May 25, 2022
