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KOTA KINABALU − National badminton legend, Datuk Lee Chong Wei, is confident that the return of former world champion and Olympic gold medallist, Rexy Mainaky, to the Malaysian Badminton Association (BAM) can bring Malaysian badminton to greater heights.
Lee said he sees BAM’s move to appoint Rexy as the national badminton governing body’s deputy director of coaching as a step in the right direction because the Indonesian men’s doubles legend has extensive experience as one of the world’s best coaches.
He said this was evident when Rexy managed to improve the achievements and performance of the Indonesian and Thai teams while serving with the two neighbouring countries.
“I think it is great for BAM to appoint and bring Rexy back as coach, and it’s great for our badminton team because he was a world champion and an Olympic gold medallist.
“I think he can work with all the coaches and that’s very important,” he said.
Lee told this to reporters at today’s luncheon with the Sabah Tourism Board after being appointed Sabah Tourism Ambassador.
On Monday, BAM announced that Rexy will be reporting to the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM), Bukit Kiara on December 1, and will work closely with its coaching director, Wong Choong Hann.
The 53-year-old former men’s doubles specialist has been given the task of adding technical input to the performance index and will, in particular, keep the national squad doubles players in check as well as improve their performance.
Rexy, who has been Badminton Association of Thailand (BAT) head coach since 2017, was previously a coach in the Malaysian doubles division from 2005 to 2012, where he managed to coach a strong men’s doubles team made up of ace pairs, such as Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.
During his heyday, Rexy and his partner, Ricky Subagja, won the 1995 World Championship and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, in addition to winning three World Cup gold medals and four Thomas Cup titles between 1994 and 2000. – AFP pic, October 27, 2021
