Shuttling into history books: another record for badminton in 2023?

KUALA LUMPUR – It has been a memorable year for Malaysia’s badminton scene as several monumental events took place.

One would say the victory sealed by the national top men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, at the Tokyo World Championships in August tops the list of historical events.

Another would point out that national top women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah’s performance at the French Open and Birmingham Commonwealth Games was commendable.

But all in all, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria told The Vibes, 2022 has undoubtedly been a valuable year for the fraternity as the team has worked hard on the world stage.

“It has been a good year for us. We won the world championships after 45 years, we performed well at the Commonwealth Games, and the men’s team won the Badminton Asia Team Championships.

“Not to mention the success of Pearly-Thinaah when they won the French Open, which Malaysia had not won for 114 years. 

“These were monumental to us, especially after (doubles coaching director) Rexy Mainaky came in, and we can see our doubles players improving,” Norza told The Vibes.

The first historical event achieved this year was Malaysia’s men’s Badminton Asia Team Championships victory at Shah Alam in February, its first since the biennial event was first held in 2016, while the women’s team managed a semifinal pass.

These achievements qualified them for the 2022 Thomas and Uber Cup hosted in Bangkok in May. 

In August, Aaron-Wooi Yik achieved the country’s first men’s doubles world championships title since the tournament was first held in 1977.

The closest Malaysia has ever been to clinching the title was through brothers Datuk Jalani-Datuk Razif Sidek in 1987, Datuk Cheah Soon Kit-Soo Beng Kiang (1993), Datuk Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (1997), and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (2010).

They were defeated in the finals.

The following month, Pearly-Thinaah recorded another historical event for the country when they clinched Malaysia’s first French Open in the women’s doubles event since the tournament was held in 1908.

For the record, the closest a Malaysian women’s doubles pair has ever gotten to winning the Super 750 title was through Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty, who was defeated in the 2008 final. 

In a turn of events, the fraternity was also scarred by then-top national shuttler and world number 7 Lee Zii Jia’s news that he would depart from the national body to turn professional.

BAM confirmed his resignation after receiving a letter from the 24-year-old dated January 11, saying he could not cope with the pressure and wished to pursue his dreams at his own pace.

Not long after that, former women’s singles coach Indra Wijaya left the national setup to join Zii Jia.

Since Zii Jia quit BAM, he has only won two individual titles – the Thailand Open and Asia Championships.

In one shocking piece of news after another, Zii Jia then sacked Indra from his team after the current world number 2 failed to earn a spot at the season-ending World Tour Finals in December and decided to go on without a coach.

This left his fans wondering how he would start the new season with the recently upgraded Super 1000 Malaysia Open slated in January.

We can only wait and see.

Experimentations and healthy competitions

Beyond successes and shocking revelations, the year 2022 was also about experimentation and new partnerships.

Norza shared that 2022 was the year BAM experimented with mixed doubles players due to the exodus of senior players like Tan Kian Meng, Lai Pei Jing, Goh Soon Huat, and Shevon Lai.

In a surprise move, Rexy also partnered Chen Tang Jie with Toh Ee Wei for what would be the year’s last tournament – the Bangladesh International Challenge in December – after Tang Jie and then-partner Peck Yen Wei failed to produce good results at the Japan Open in September.

“Towards the end of the year, we could see that Ee Wei-Tang Jie showed success in the Bangladesh International Challenge that they won,” Norza said.

Additionally, he said the success of badminton this year was due to the positive relationship between two engines of players – BAM players and independent players – which has created a healthy competitive environment.

“I am happy for Malaysian badminton because when I came in as BAM’s president, the engine of independent players was not so active. Now we can see more involvement from the independent players, as they work harmoniously with BAM players.

“They are the check and balance in our badminton industry, which has eventually created a competitive edge for all players.”

‘Petronas – biggest sponsorship in history’

Norza added that the success also would not have been possible without the presence of Petronas as the biggest sponsor in Malaysia’s badminton history since the association’s incorporation more than 70 years ago.

Petronas’s three-year partnership with BAM provided stability for the national body to design and implement a comprehensive plan for the Olympic Games.

“For major milestones, in terms of sponsorship, I would have to say Petronas. 

“Them being on board provides BAM stability, and with the funding received, we can properly plan for the whole Olympic cycle.

“Petronas also saw immediate returns as it provided players like Aaron and Wooi Yik a boost to win the world championships.” 

The sponsorship also made it possible for BAM to create another engine, the elite junior squad, being a programme to fast-track junior players at Akademi Badminton Malaysia to compete at senior-level tournaments. 

With the new backing, Norza advised shuttlers to take advantage and make full use of the opportunity to become better players and produce good results, including but not limited to improving world rankings.

Polishing young talents

Despite the apparent successes of the senior squad, Norza admitted that the juniors would need some polishing after their letdown at the World Junior Championships in October with no appearance in the quarter-finals.

“There was a letdown in performance from the junior team when they competed at the World Junior Championships. 

“The responsibility falls on (BAM development director) Misbun Sidek and his coaches to help the shuttlers improve.

“They need to study their competitors well, such as South Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia.

“This would be a wake-up call for Misbun and his team,” Norza added.

What the future holds

There is no time to waste as only a few days are left in 2022.

Norza, who has been BAM president since April 2017, is adamant to see some improvements in the national body, particularly in the elite squad as well as women’s singles and men’s singles departments.

“We hope to see some improvements next year for the women’s singles. At this point, we have yet to see someone capable of carrying the torch.

“As for the men’s singles, our mission is to produce the second and third-best player after Ng Tze Yong.”

After Malaysia won the men’s doubles World Championships title, Norza said, two more major events need to be ticked off the list – the 2024 Thomas Cup and a gold medal for the Paris Olympic Games.

For the record, Malaysia holds five Thomas Cup titles, but the last time the country won the biennial tournament was in 1992 when it became host. – The Vibes, December 29, 2022